For the first time, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi backs a successful conclusion to the new global climate treaty scheduled to be signed in Paris next year and agrees to strengthen cooperation with the US.
India and the US have agreed on a “new and enhanced strategic partnership on energy security, clean energy, and climate change,” recognizing the critical importance of increasing energy access, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving resilience in the face of climate change.
As India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi wound up his maiden US tour with a meeting with US President Barack Obama in the White House, the US State Department provided details of a slew of agreements signed between the two governments. Tackling climate change was high on the agenda.
A State Department spokesperson said Obama and Modi “agreed to strengthen and expand the highly successful US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) through a series of priority initiatives, including a new Energy Smart Cities Partnership to promote efficient urban energy infrastructure; a new programme to scale-up renewable energy integration into India’s power grid; cooperation to support India’s efforts to upgrade its alternative energy institutes and to develop new innovation centres; an expansion of the Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy (PEACE) programme to unlock additional private sector investment and accelerate the deployment of cost-effective, super-efficient appliances; and the formation of a new Clean Energy Finance Forum to promote investment and trade in clean energy projects.”
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