Nikki Haley says countries should keep doing what is in their best interest. (Reuters)
The US does not need India, China and France telling it what to do on the issue of the Paris climate agreement, American Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has said.
US President Donald Trump
last week withdrew the US, the second-largest polluter after China, from the Paris Agreement. Mr Trump had said India would get billions of dollars for meeting its commitment under the 2015 Paris Agreement along with China and gain a financial advantage over the US.
He had put the US in league with two other nations -- Syria and Nicaragua -- who have not signed the deal agreed by over 190 other nations.
"I think the rest of the world would like to tell us how to manage our own environment and I think that anybody in America can tell you that we're best to decide what America should do. We don't need India and France and China telling us what they think we should do," Ms Haley was quoted as saying by CBS News.
Responding to a question on global reaction to Mr Trump's decision, Ms Haley said countries should continue doing what is in their best interest. "And if the Paris agreement was something that works for them, that they can achieve, they should do that," Ms Haley said.
Ms Haley defended Mr Trump's decision saying business could not be run under the kind of regulations imposed by the Paris deal. "There's a reason that President Obama didn't go through the Senate to get this cleared, because he couldn't. The regulations were unattainable. I mean you could not actually have a business run under the regulations that we had," she said.
She said the US is conscious about the environment and it will continue to do its part in mitigating climate change. "We know that there are issues with the environment. We know that we have to be conscious of it. But we can't sit there and have Angela Merkel telling us to worry about Africa," Ms Haley said.
"She should continue doing her part. We're going to continue doing our part. We're going to continue encouraging other countries to do what they think is in the best interests of them. But American sovereignty matters," Ms Haley said.
The top Indian-American diplomat said that Mr Trump
believes the climate is changing, and he does know that pollutants are a part of that equation.
"He is absolutely intent on making sure that we have clean air, clean water, that he makes sure that we're doing everything we can to keep America's moral compass in the world when it comes to the environment," Ms Haley said.
"We've done that in the past. We'll do it in the future. It's what the US does. It's what we'll continue to do," she added.