Natural disasters such as cyclones, their frequency and pace, must be directly linked to climate change.

Environment has never been a popular subject for India’s major political parties during general elections. Even in the post-1972 UN Conference on Human and Environment period or post-1992 Earth Summit scenario when environment emerged as a strong international and national issue, seldom has environment found an appropriate space in party manifestos in India. At the outset, environment as an issue in the election campaign is still considered a matter of concern for upper strata of societies only.

The rising threat from unpredictable and excessive rainfall, exacerbated by climate change, has warranted a conceptual debate for robust policy formulation. The urgency has never been felt more than now as we witness devastating incidents like dam breach in Laos, the State Deluge in Kerala (India) and frequent marooning of cities, including ‘smart cities’ in India, during monsoon. It has now become a common scenario across megacities and towns when torrential rains play havoc with daily lives of people leading to deaths and destruction of properties.

In April 2018, after a long hiatus, the Neemrana Dialogue was resumed. It is the longest running Track-II initiative between India and Pakistan and the first engagement between the two sides under this initiative was held nearly three decades ago in 1991-92. At the military level, the first ever high-level contact group from Pakistan headed by Lieutenant General Aamir Riaz visited India, and the Indian military attaché in Islamabad and his team was invited to attend the Pakistan Day military parade.

The right to development of populace residing in disputed territories is being left unattended in international development discourse.

Free for one in sovereign water and EEZ to free for all beyond EEZs both have depleted the Ocean by competing demands with increasing disputes among countries.

On April 22, Earth Day, with other 129 countries Mongolia is expected to sign the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which was adopted at COP 21 at Paris last December, at New York. While Mongolia, being the largest landlocked country with development constraints, emits a minuscule of greenhouse gases (GHG), 25 percent of Mongolians are facing severe climate impacts. Among nearly 2.8 million total populations, more than 225,000 or 41% of the total herder population have been suffering from hostile weather conditions, including more than 28,000 children below the age of five.

Lately, the United States and some European nations have lifted oil and other financial sanctions on Iran and have also released roughly $100 billion of its assets after international inspectors concluded that Iran had complied on its promises to dismantle large sections of its nuclear programme. To signal that the relations are now moving towards friendship, just few hour before the implementation of the nuclear accord five Americans were released from Iran’s prison.

Logically, the frequency of occurrences of tropical cyclones (typhoons) or unexpected weather during last quarter of each year would have accelerated some sort of resolve on issues in climate cauldron especially loss and damage during UN sponsored climate talks. The tropical cyclone Koppu (Lando) slammed the island nation-Philippines just a day before the Bonn Climate Change Conference (October 19-23). Strom Patricia, strongest hurricane ever recorded at sea, though receded on landfall, could have brought huge losses in Mexico, a day after the Conference.

First ever comment to the First Draft- which can be termed as Paris Protocol- came from India as ‘lopsided’ to bring climate justice, ‘inadequate’ for developing countries and ‘lenient’ to developed countries. Usually, after Bonn Intercessional Conference, which commence during June every year, the negotiation on climate change gets movement.