"India, the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, formally joined the Paris agreement on tackling climate change on Sunday, the United Nations said, taking the global pact a step closer to its enactment.

The deal, agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris last December, aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by shifting away from fossil fuels to limit global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.

But it needs to be formally ratified by countries representing at least 55 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions."

Aditya Kalra reports for Reuters October 2, 2016. [2]