Despite assembling the largest gathering of world leaders on one stage, the Copenhagen climate change conference was headed for an inglorious end, unable to deliver on any of its stated objectives, though a formal admission of failure was still to be signed.

Let alone the ambitious and legally-binding emission reduction targets for each of the rich countries?and several other issues that were to be resolved? the 193 countries at the conference were finding it difficult even to agree on a rather sterile political declaration that would be the only outcome, still being worked upon, to result from the two-week-long negotiations.

The political declaration, containing mainly a statement of intent to tackle climate change and giving the mandate to extend the negotiations into the next year, was expected to be announced in the evening.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, one of the 110 world leaders who converged on Copenhagen to lend their political weight behind a global comprehensive agreement on climate change, admitted that the outcome from the meeting would fall ?short

of expectations?.

?Nevertheless, it can become a significant milestone. I, therefore, support calls for subsequent negotiations towards building a truly global and genuinely collaborative response to climate change being concluded during 2010,? he said, addressing an informal meeting of the heads of states.

Manmohan Singh, and Chinese counterpart Premier Wen Jiabao, stressed that future negotiations must be carried on within the ambit of the three international agreements: the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Action Plan.

?A vast majority of countries do not support any renegotiation or dilution of the principles and provisions of the UNFCCC, in particular the principle of equity and common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,? he said.

?Further, the need for action on our part is more and not less than what was envisaged at the time of the Rio Convention or the Kyoto Protocol. That is why the Bali Action Plan commits us to enhancing the implementation of the UNFCCC. To settle for something that would be seen as diminished expectations and diminished implementation would be the wrong message to emerge from this conference. ?We should therefore reaffirm categorically that our negotiations will continue on the basis of the Bali mandate,? he said.

Manmohan Singh said the Kyoto Protocol must continue to stand as a valid legal instrument and that rich countries must deliver on their commitments. ?It would go against international public opinion if we acquiesce in its replacement by a new and weaker set of commitments,? he said.

Negotiations in the two working groups, which had remained stalled through most of the week, resumed on Friday afternoon with the objective of producing draft agreements that would become the basis of a final political declaration.

However, the host country soon realised that there was too little time to wait for the draft texts to come out from the two working groups and, therefore, started consultations with a select group of countries on drafting the political declaration.

The draft political declaration went through several revisions, but there were still many areas of disagreement. Meanwhile, the two working groups finished their job this morning and submitted their respective draft texts, which contain more than 100 brackets, indicating that an agreement on this points was still to be reached.