'India, China's cooperation vital for tackling climate change'

The US should work with India and China to address the challenges posed by climate change, leading Democratic presidential candidates have said.

"This is a moral issue. We have got to be extremely aggressive in working with China, India, Russia," Senator Bernie Sanders said in response to a question during Democratic Party's first presidential debate in Las Vegas.

"It's a global problem and I have been very strong on doing that.

“The agreements -- the so-called agreements that we have had with China are illusory in terms of the immediate requirements of the Chinese government itself," Jim Webb said in response to the same question.

"So let's solve this problem in an international way, and then we really will have a way to address climate change," Webb said.

Hillary Clinton argued she already has the experience of handling both India and China on climate change.     

". . . .there will be no effective efforts against climate change unless China and India join with the rest of the world," she said.

"Thanks to President Obama's leadership, it's now gone much further," she said referring to the agreements that the US has now reached with China and India on climate change.

"I do think that the bilateral agreement that President (Barack) Obama made with the Chinese was significant," she said.

The image is used for representational purpose only. Photograph: Reuters