India, Feb. 19 -- Recalling his historic spaceflight in 1984, wing commander Rakesh Sharma said he saw a forest fire in what was then Burma, now Myanmar. The plume of smoke, carried by upper atmospheric winds, stretched for many miles across the far east. That view drove home the point that pollution does not respect national boundaries.

Sharma was speaking on Earth's fragility and the urgency of climate action at the Mumbai Climate Week on Wednesday. Sharing the stage with him were group captain Shubhanshu Shukla and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Sharma, the first Indian to travel to space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz T-11, said, "Pollution is no respecter of national boundaries, therefore, our destinies are interconnected in ...