US President Barack Obama said on Monday that India had to be able to grow and fight poverty, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to ensure development would be coupled with environmental protection.
One of the stumbling blocks to getting an inclusive agreement to fight climate change has been the United States' reluctance to accept that some countries should be obliged to do more than others, while nations such as India have objected to restrictions on their development.
After talks with Modi on the sidelines of a UN summit on climate change in Paris, Obama told reporters he and Modi had agreed climate change was an urgent threat and also that India also had to be able to grow. In return, Modi said he would work "to ensure that development and environmental protection go hand in hand".
Modi on Monday called for a global partnership to bring clean energy to the reach of all people.
"We must come together in a partnership to bring clean energy within the reach of all," Modi said in an address at an event on "Mission Innovation" hosted by US President Barack Obama at the Conference of Parties (CoP) climate summit that got underway in Paris.
"Mission Innovation", launched by Obama and French President Francois Hollande on Sunday, is an initiative to dramatically accelerate public and private global energy innovation to address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers, including in the developing world and create commercial opportunities in clean energy.
"This partnership will combine the responsibility of government with the innovative capacity of the private sector," Modi said.
He said that access to energy and a better life was a universal aspiration just as clean environment and healthy habitats were.
"We will restore the balance between ecology and economy, and between our inheritance and obligation to the future," the Modi said.