Meeting Clinton in New Delhi, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh sharply criticised developed countries like the United States for pressuring developing nations to accept binding targets on emissions reductions as part of any new global climate treaty.

"There is simply no case for the pressure that we, who have among the lowest emissions per capita, face to actually reduce emissions," Ramesh told Clinton on the second day of her first visit to India as Washington's top diplomat.

"We are simply not in a position to take on legally binding emissions reductions targets," he told reporters after their meeting.

Clinton was accompanied by her special climate envoy Todd Stern, who has been tasked with thrashing out differences with India before the December summit in Copenhagen -- aimed at securing a new international agreement on climate change to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

India -- like fellow developing heavyweight China -- has refused to commit to emission cuts in the new treaty until developed nations, particularly the United States, present sufficient targets of their own.

New Delhi has consistently said any pact should not hinder the economic growth of developing countries.

Despite Ramesh's remarks, Clinton said their meeting had been "very fruitful" and insisted that both sides should be able to draw up a framework agreement.

"I am very confident... that the United States and India can devise a plan that will dramatically change the way we produce, consume and conserve energy," Clinton said.

"We are not sitting down and writing the framework today, but we have many more areas of agreement than perhaps had been appreciated," Clinton said.

Stern will hold talks with Ramesh and India's climate negotiator Shyam Saran on Tuesday morning, before Clinton leaves for a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Thailand.

Clinton said President Barack Obama's administration has begun to take action on climate change, after his predecessor George W. Bush played down the problem.

As she did during a visit to China, which has overtaken the United States as the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, she acknowledged the US had "made mistakes" in its own industrial advance and defended the right of emerging countries to improve their living standards.

"The United States does not and will not do anything that will limit India's economic progress," she said.

"The challenge is to create a global framework that recognises the different needs and responsibilities of developed and developing countries alike."

Clinton kicked off her India visit in Mumbai on Saturday by calling for a global fight against terrorism after paying tribute to victims of last year's deadly attacks on the Indian financial capital.

India blamed the assault on a banned Pakistani militant group.

In Delhi, Clinton said the United States expected the perpetrators of the attacks to be brought to justice, but also paid tribute to Islamabad's counter-terrorism efforts.

"We believe there is a commitment to fighting terrorism that permeates the entire (Pakistan) government," Clinton said.

India suspended a peace dialogue with Pakistan after the attacks and insists Islamabad has yet to take sufficient measures against those responsible to warrant a resumption of the process.

On Monday, Clinton will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on a range of issues including security, trade and arms control.

India-US relations were frosty during the Cold War and deteriorated after New Delhi tested an atom bomb in 1998 but thawed after former US president George W. Bush signed a civilian nuclear technology deal with India last year.

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