Host Mexico asked the envoys from more than 190 nations to meet throughout the night to hammer out an agreement meant to find building blocks to a global package on how to fight rising temperatures blamed for growing disasters.

"A broad and balanced package of decisions is indeed within our grasp," Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa told the two-week conference, amid predictions it may run beyond its scheduled closing time of Friday evening.

Negotiators in the Mexican resort of Cancun pointed to headway on issues including how to administer billions of dollars in aid to poor nations. But talks remained stuck on the key controversy over the future of the landmark Kyoto Protocol.

After last year's widely criticized Copenhagen summit, Mexico has looked to make only incremental progress. One snag in Copenhagen was the refusal by China and India to accept calls for legally binding action, with the emerging powers saying that rich nations bear historic responsibility for climate change.

But India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh offered a shift, saying that his country was ready to look at a future binding deal -- although not yet.

"All countries must take binding commitments under an appropriate legal form," Ramesh told AFP.

He said India would wait to see the shape of a future agreement "because we don't know the content," including whether countries would face penalties for non-compliance or a monitoring system.

"So let's wait. Let us talk about it," Ramesh said.

The Kyoto Protocol requires emissions cuts only of wealthy nations -- known as Annex I. With a new treaty looking increasingly distant, the European Union has led calls to extend Kyoto beyond the obligations' expiry date at the end of 2012.

Japan has led opposition to the idea, saying Kyoto is unfair by covering only 30 percent of emissions and not the top two polluters. China has no obligations as a developing nation, while the United States -- technically Annex I -- rejected the treaty in 2001.

"It is like the Annex I countries are the soccer players and the non-Annex I countries and the United States are spectators in the stand. However we work and score... we are criticized," Japanese official Akira Yamada said.

"We would like all the major emitters to go down to this playing field," he told reporters.

Yamada voiced hope that all sides would come up with acceptable language and predicted that the talks could run into Saturday.

Russia, a major exporter of fossil fuels targeted in climate plans, also stated flatly that it would not take part in a new round under Kyoto.

Australia's Climate Change Minister Greg Combet urged delegates not to get bogged down in process and offered flexibility in continuing the Kyoto Protocol.

"It is imperative for the credibility of this process that we are able to make progress here," Combet said.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, who has emerged as a leading critic of the UN-led talks, demanded more far-reaching action.

"If we here throw the Kyoto Protocol into the garbage dump, we would be responsible for economy-cide, for ecocide -- indeed, for genocide -- as we would be harming humanity as a whole," Morales said from the podium of the conference, receiving loud applause.

Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous leader, called for an agreement that protects native populations and called for climate assistance to poor countries at a level "equivalent to the budget that developed countries spend on defense, security and warfare."

Wealthy economies -- including the European Union, Japan and the United States -- have pledged to help provide 30 billion dollars in near-term assistance to poor nations, along with 100 billion dollars a year in the future.

Negotiators said they saw steady progress in setting up the architecture of a future climate fund. A remaining sticking point is whether to include a role for international bodies, such as the World Bank, in administering aid.

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