For those looking for lessons in Indian diplomacy, Cancun was a high-water point. The reason was Jairam Ramesh. The Mexicans found their mojo and India finally emerged as a climate winner. The UN climate conference?s surprise outcome was not pre-determined. Two weeks ago, most scribes had written off the prospects of an agreement?in keeping with a whole year of downplaying expectations. Copenhagen had handed Cancun a poisoned chalice. No one wanted a repeat of the stratospheric expectations, incoherent political process, murky last-minute deals and crushing results. Both trust and nerves had been shredded.

The Mexican hosts listened?they promised an inclusive and transparent process, and delivered. The sustained applause, the multiple standing ovations that followed COP 16 President, Patricia Espinosa, as she gavelled through the agreement at 3:30am on December 10 were there for a reason. They were borne out of pure wonder, longing, pleasure and relief that the the battered climate process had rescued itself.

This is the emotional context in which India?s shifting position on climate must be seen. Negotiations are not just about hardball positions but about psychology, atmosphere and relationships. This is the backdrop against which a break with the past was made.

The truth is that India?s position has been evolving ever since Jairam Ramesh took office in May 2008. This is a good thing. From the acceptance of the

2 degree limit at L?Aquila in 2008, to Ramesh?s imaginative proposals on technology, international consultation and analysis this year, to his consensus-building language on the legal form of the agreement in the last days of the Cancun conference, we have seen a steady evolution of the Indian position on climate change.

Ramesh has combined style with substance to bring new standing to India in the climate negotiations. He quickly understood the sticky issues around finance, monitoring and verification and worked hard to find solutions to release the pressure valves. He demonstrated that he had skin in the game and was willing to be a problem-solver and consensus builder. A refreshing change from the traditional role of India as long on pompous rhetoric and short on constructive action.

The UN climate negotiations are probably the most complex, technically demanding and politically charged. They are far-reaching in scope and the stakes could not be higher. But they have become ossified with negotiators unable to see the wood for the trees and incapable of mounting an effective collective response to the growing warnings of climate calamity. At root, this is because governments do not fully understood what their national interests are in terms of climate change. If they did, there would be less talk of national sovereignty and more of collective effort. India is a case in point.

For more than a decade, our policymakers acted as if climate change was somebody else?s problem. The West was to blame and we were victims. In a neatly-ordered world, all we had to do was make strenuous demands for per capita equity as a populous third world nation, and we would deservedly get our fair share of global environmental space.

In the real world, the dialogue of the deaf in the UN climate negotiations continued and the poles began to melt faster. We kept doing the same thing and kept getting the same results. During this lost decade, we did not address the critical issue of our own domestic climate risks, impacts or resilience. We failed to give our industry a head start to prepare for a low-carbon competitive future, and we failed to address the adaptation needs of our poorest.

Not because we couldn?t have. But we chose not to. India has no shortage of wealth or entrepreneurialism. We have no dearth of intellectual, scientific or technological talent. We have a dearth of vision and belief in ourselves. Enter Jairam Ramesh. In one year, he has been a one-man motor of change with a lorryful of initiatives. We now have a pro-

active climate policy that addresses India?s risks while playing a constructive leadership role internationally. This is not for everyone. India?s climate politics are still dominated by the cold warriors. But Ramesh?s reforms have thumping resonance with youth and entrepreneurs keen on solutions.

At Cancun, Ramesh?s effectiveness lay in his skill in reading the political tea leaves. He realised moral authority now lay with the newly-assertive small island states and poorer nations. As the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, India had a responsibility to curb its own emissions. New alliances such as the Cartagena Dialogue had emerged, bringing together rich and poor nations on a shared progressive agenda challenging the old order.

The significance of these new alignments has been little remarked in the Indian media. As a result, political discussion is ill-informed and out of date. To appreciate Ramesh?s stance one has to understand the changed negotiating environment and expectations of India as a rising power. India emerged as a star at Cancun because of Ramesh. Effective diplomacy requires risk-taking. If we are to build on this, we will need better informed parliamentary and public discussion. Not just about domestic duties, but our international obligations as an emerging power in an interdependent world threatened by climate change. The good news is we?ve made a start.

The author is founder and chief

executive, Centre for Social Markets