New Delhi:The US special envoy John Kerry, who is on an official visit to India to discuss the climate crisis, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.
The visit comes ahead of the Leader's Summit on climate to be hosted by Biden led US administration later this month.
Kerry during his meeting conveyed greetings of President Joe Biden to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister fondly recalled his recent interactions with President Biden including during the Quad Leaders’ Summit and requested Kerry to convey his best wishes to Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Taking to Twitter, Prime Minister Modi said, "With our complementary strengths, India and US can creatively collaborate on a 2030 agenda for clean and green technologies in the service of the planet. @JohnKerry".
The US special envoy John Kerry also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Environment minister Prakash Javdekar on Tuesday and discussed issues related to the global climate crisis. Kerry in his tweet described India as a vital partner in its fight against the climate crisis. "We must raise ambition together, or we will fail together", he added.
Observing that India is a major player on a global stage, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry on Wednesday reiterated that decisive action from the country now will determine what this transformation will mean for all generations to come.
Earlier today, Kerry called on Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to discuss the climate change crisis and India's significant role in it.
Kerry briefed Prime Minister Modi on his fruitful and productive discussions over the last two days in India. He positively noted India’s Climate Actions including its ambitious renewable energy plans.
Prime Minister noted that India is committed to meeting its nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement and that it was among the few countries on track to meet these commitments.
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Kerry further noted that the United States would support India’s climate plans by facilitating affordable access to green technologies and requisite finance.
Climate change has been the major focus since Biden came into power. On January 20, Biden announced the return of the United States to the Paris climate accord and India has always been the priority and a reliable partner for the United States endeavour to tackle the climate crisis.
According to a statement issued by the White House, 40 leaders from across the world, including India and Bangladesh, are invited to the summit in an attempt to “stimulate efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis.”
Prime Minister Modi agreed that cooperation between India and the United States particularly on financing innovation and faster deployment of green technologies would have a positive demonstration effect on other countries.
Last year on 12th December, addressing the Climate Ambition Summit organized to mark the 5th anniversary of the landmark Paris agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that India has reduced its emission intensity by 21% over 2005 levels. “Our solar capacity has grown from 2.63 GigaWatts in 2014 to 36 GigaWatts in 2020. Our renewable energy capacity is the fourth largest in the world", he added.
The recent visits by foreign delegates to India reflects that a global realignment is underway and India finds itself at the centre of it. Notably, India is emerging as one the most sought partner for most of the countries in the region. The West sees India as a bulwark against China. And today, New Delhi hosted top officials from the US, Russia, Bahrain to name a few, which shows that there has been a major paradigm shift in India's strong diplomacy. India has excellent relations with both Russia and the United States.
Moreover, the summer diplomacy of India is not over as later this month, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is slated to pay a visit to India.
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