Mr. President, please accept my congratulations and best wishes on your election to the chair of this Eleventh Meeting of the Parties. It gives us great happiness that this important meeting is being held in a country known for its ancient culture and heritage, rich civilization and progressive global economy. On behalf of the people, and the Government of my country, I express my most sincere thanks and appreciation for the excellent arrangements made by the Government of China for this meeting. I am impressed by the warmth hospitality, efficiency and sincerity of the people of this great country.

Mr. President, without doubt, Montreal Protocol is a very successful instrument of global environmental co-operation. This co-operation has been nurtured by the understanding shown by the developed countries of the problems faced by the developing countries. This has enabled the developed and developing countries to play a meaningful role in phasing out the use of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). This endeavour is essential for protecting our planet, ensuring a clean and safe environment for our children and future generations.

Mr. President, I am happy to state that India has been a very active participant in the global movement of the Montreal Protocol. Our endeavour in the last half-decade has been to create awareness among the Article 2 and Article 5 countries on the issues and problems of developing countries. We are encouraging enterprises to come forward with phase-out projects and adopt Ozone friendly technologies at the earliest. The Government of India has already taken a number of policy measures to encourage early adoption of non-ODS technologies.

Our implementation of licensing system for export and import of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) and our system of granting duty exemptions for equipments needed for non-ODS projects show-An our Government's commitment to Montreal Protocol. Our financial institutions have stopped new investment in India with ODS technologies from as early as 1995. We have recently developed very detailed draft rules to regulate ODS phase-out under the Environment Protection Act,, 1986. We hope to notify these in the near future. Mr. President, it is my proud privilege to inform this august gathering that, India, through its pro-active initiatives, has complied with the first freeze commitment of 1.7.99. We will continue our efforts to meet our commitments to the Protocol.

Mr. President, 1999 is indeed a historic year for the Protocol. The two biggest producers of CFCs, China and India have shown their commitment to the Protocol by finalizing agreements to phase-out their production of CFCs. This was possible only due to a positive and co-operative attitude shown by China and India and the developed countries. We are happy that both the agreements were finalized when USA held the Chair of the Executive Committee.

Mr. President, we are specially thankful to Canada who acted as the facilitator of the Production Sector Sub-Group and the other developed countries on the Sub-Group. The representatives of these countries played a very positive role in resolving this very contentious issue in a very amicable manner and in an atmosphere of global cooperation. The approval of the project would facilitate India to meet the targets of reducing CFC production in a phased manner and comply with the commitment of 50% reduction by 2005. We do hope the funding provided as compensation to the CFC producing units will be delivered as per the schedule outlined in the draft agreement.

Mr. President, a major challenge now confronting the global community is to harmonize the policies of phase-out of ODS under the Montreal Protocol and controlling emissions of the green house gases used as substitute to ODS under the Kyoto Protocol. Developing countries are most concerned about this matter and need immediate and good answers to this problem so that the momentum of phase-out does not receive any set-back. Since a number of international agreements is now being pursued and implemented to tackle the problems of global environment, perhaps there is a need to adopt solutions which establish greater harmony with nature and are not so much driven by technology alone.

Mr. President, our future success in this onerous task is now dependent on speedy resolution of the challenging issues which confront us regarding implementation of phase-out projects in production sector, use of CTC in the solvent sector and adopting innovative methodologies and strategies to phase out ODS in the largely untapped small and medium enterprises specially in servicing sector of Refrigeration and Chillers. In order to meet these targets, India needs adequate and early funding from the Multilateral Fund. These concerns are shared by a number of developing countries.

Mr. President, the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund is of great significance for the Article-5 countries. Article-2 countries should also view this with the greatest amount of concern and commitment, keeping in view the fast approaching phase out schedules of the Protocol. We do share the concern of Article-2 countries that the available funds should be utilised effectively and properly. But we also do need to recall that the efforts of Article-5 countries are all geared towards containment and rectification of a damage which has largely been caused by the developed countries. And to facilitate our endeavours the Replenishment should take all our concerns and financial requirements into account.

Mr. President India and other developing countries have demonstrated their commitment to the Protocol. The developing countries are at a very critical stage where the momentum generated in the past has to be further strengthened. There is no room for complacency. We will continue with our endeavour to adhere to the provisions of the Protocol. I am confident that under your able leadership the meeting of Parties will reach successful conclusions. We should also make this a meeting of historical importance and take positive decisions for the preservation of our environment for the well being of future generations.

In the end, on behalf of people and Government of India, I take this opportunity to thank, the Government of China, UNEP, the Implementing Agencies, NGOs and other organizations who have always been willing to understand and appreciate our problems and whose guidance has been always available to us.