NEW DELHI: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged fast-growing India to work with the United States on global warming before it’s too late. “The irreversible climate challenge is speeding towards us, crying out for a global solution, ” he said.

Kerry spoke on climate change in a speech in New Delhi, the second stop on his two-week swing through the Mideast and Asia, just two days before President Barack Obama is to unveil his long-awaited plan for the United States on the issue.

“The world’s largest democracy and its oldest one must do more together, uniting not as a threat to anyone, not as a counterweight to a region or some other countries, but as partners building a strong, smart future in a critical age,” Kerry said in a reference to how India is often viewed as a counterbalance to China.

People consulting with White House officials on Obama’s plan say they expect the president to put forth regulations on heat-trapping gases emitted by coal-fired power plants that are already running. Environmental groups have been pleading with Obama to take that step, but the administration has said it’s focused first on controls on new power plants.

More than half of India’s power comes from coal and while the U.S. has emission issues of its own, it wants to see India and other nations in the region rely less on old, coal generation facilities. The U.S. is backing a Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline that would bring energy to a power-starved region.

Speaking at a convention center to a crowd of several hundred businessmen, students and others, Kerry noted that federal scientists in May reported that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere passed 400 parts per million — a level never before experienced by man.

“When the desert is creeping into East Africa, and ever more scarce resources push farmers and herders into deadly conflict … then this is a matter of shared security for all of us. … When the Himalayan glaciers are receding, threatening the very supply of water to almost a billion people, we all need to do better,” he said.

During his first trip to India as secretary of state, the top U.S. diplomat was expected to discuss a myriad of other topics, including enhancing security in the region and prospects for finding a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan.

As NATO troops leave, India fears the country could fall into the hands of a Taliban-led regime, endangering many of India’s interests there. Kerry reassured India, which has invested more than $2 billion to reconstruct Afghanistan, that the U.S. commitment to the Afghan people will not end at the close of next year when NATO-led combat troops complete their withdrawal.

In meetings before Kerry heads to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the U.S. expects Indian officials will want to query Kerry about prospects for peace talks with the Taliban. U.S. talks were scheduled to begin in coming days, but a last-minute diplomatic rift over how the Taliban rolled out their new political office in Doha, Qatar, has threatened to scuttle the talks.

“Obviously, we are very realistic about the difficulties of making progress. Making peace is never easy, and a final settlement may be long in coming,” he said.

KABUL: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met again Tuesday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a day after they put on a show of unity as they tried to end recent bickering over anti-American comments made by the Afghan leader.

Kerry also met Tuesday at the American Embassy in Kabul with participants in a U.S.-backed women’s entrepreneurship program. He heard a succession of concerns from businesswomen fearful of what the 2014 transition will mean for not only for women and girls but for Afghanistan’s commerce in general.

Many advocates for women’s rights worry that the departure of international troops will lead to a deterioration in conditions for women, who were denied basic rights such as education underTaliban rule.

“After the transition happens, we are hoping for the same attention” as we get now, said Hassina Syed, who runs catering, construction and transportation firms. With the transition approaching “there is a lot of negative effect on the business sector,” she told Kerry.

Kerry also spoke with civic leaders preparing for Afghanistan’s 2014 elections, telling them he wanted to pay the “respects of everybody in America for the journey that you are on and for the great contribution you’re making to your country and the efforts you’re making to develop this democracy.”

“You’re engaged in a remarkable effort and the whole world is watching,” Kerry said.

Kerry arrived Monday in Kabul amid concerns that Karzai may be jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism with his rhetoric. Karzai infuriated U.S. officials earlier this month by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration pressed ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO’s combat mission by the end of next year.

After a private meeting, Kerry said he had asked Karzai about the comments and was very satisfied with the president’s explanation. He said the two countries were on the same page as international forces prepare to end combat operations in 2014.

At a joint news conference after his talks with Kerry, Karzai told reporters his comments in a nationally televised speech had been misinterpreted by the media. Kerry demurred on that point but said people sometimes say things in public that reflect ideas they have heard from others but don’t necessarily agree with.

“I am confident the president (Karzai) does not believe the U.S. has any interest except to see the Taliban come to the table to make peace and that we are completely cooperative with the government of Afghanistan with respect to the protection of their efforts and their people,” Kerry said.

KABUL: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Afghan President Hamid Karzai made a show of unity Monday, shortly after the U.S. military ceded control of its last detention facility inAfghanistan, ending a longstanding irritant in relations between the two countries.

Kerry, in Afghanistan for an unannounced visit, said he and Karzai were “on the same page” when it comes to peace talks with theTaliban.

Karzai had infuriated U.S. officials by accusing Washington of colluding with Taliban insurgents to keep Afghanistan weak even as the Obama administration presses ahead with plans to hand off security responsibility to Afghan forces and end NATO’s combat mission by the end of next year.

But Kerry told a joint news conference that “I am confident (Karzai) does not believe the U.S. has any interest except to see the Taliban come to the table to make peace.”

“So we’re on the same page. I don’t think there is any disagreement between us and I am comfortable with his explanation,” Kerry said.

For his part, Karzai said “today was a very good day,” citing the turnover of the detention facility at the U.S.-run Bagram military base north of Kabul.

The two spoke at a joint news conference during which Kerry also praised what he said was Afghanistan’s commitment to “safe, secure” and transparent elections, scheduled for April 2014.

During Kerry’s 24-hour visit to the country — his sixth since President Barack Obama became president but his first as Obama’s secretary of State — Kerry also planned to meet with civic leaders and others to discuss continued U.S. assistance to the country and how to wean it from such aid as the international military operation winds down, and upcoming national elections.

U.S. officials accompanying Kerry said he did not plan to lecture Karzai on his earlier rhetoric, which the U.S. had seen as jeopardizing progress in the war against extremism.

Kerry, who arrived in Kabul from Amman, Jordan, had hoped also to travel to Pakistan on his trip to the region but put it off due to elections there. Instead, he met late Sunday in Amman with Pakistani army chief for Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, officials said.