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Beyond Climate Threat: Can nuclear rivals India and Pakistan work together to address their common air pollution?

In this episode of Earth Chakra, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran joins the host, Chetan Bhattacharji, to explain why the climate crisis has transformed from an environmental concern into a matter of national security that no border can contain. Ambassador Saran was also Chairman of India’s National Security Advisory Board, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Indo-US Civil Nuclear Issues and Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change.

Key Discussion Points:

The Subcontinent as One: Why South Asia - including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - is a single ecological unit, regardless of political boundaries.

Climate vs. Diplomacy: Why "Net Zero" targets might be a global "sleight of hand" and what it means for India’s development.

The Coal Paradox: Navigating the urgent need for a green transition while meeting India's growing energy demands.

Strategic Autonomy: How ecological degradation challenges India’s capacity for independent decision-making on the world stage.

Why This Matters: This conversation dives deep into the "collective blindness" of regional leadership and why traditional diplomacy is failing to address the shared environmental threats facing future generations. While defence budgets prioritise military hardware and territorial borders, ecological crises like cross-border air pollution, melting Himalayan glaciers, and severe water scarcity are rapidly emerging as hard security threats across South Asia.

The conversation explores why national security and ecological protection are deeply interconnected, and why regional powers must re-evaluate their strategic frameworks. Amb. Saran provides a candid, evidence-based critique of global climate policy, explaining why baseline concepts like Net Zero targets and Carbon Capture technologies function as an institutional "sleight of hand" rather than genuine emissions reduction mechanisms. Drawing on his decades inside high-stakes international negotiations, from the Copenhagen Climate Summit to the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal, he details the systemic default of developed nations on climate finance, why India must practice "Nehru's enlightened self-interest," and how climate volatility directly threatens state autonomy.