The government on Thursday said it has made no decision as yet on ratifying the Paris Climate Change Agreement, even as the issue found mention during Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama’s meeting on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit on Thursday in Vientiane, Laos.
Earlier in the day, Agence France-Presse quoted unnamed White House sources that Modi and Obama made a joint commitment “to join the Paris Agreement this year”. The US had ratified the agreement during the just-concluded G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China. Obama has championed the deal and prodded friendly countries to ratify it by year-end, which is also the time when his presidential tenure ends.
Denying reports that the PM has made any such commitments, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: “The government has made no decision as yet on ratifying the Paris Agreement. Domestic processes in this regard are still underway. A decision will be taken only when they are completed.”
New Delhi has linked its signing of the Paris Agreement to its efforts to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). At their meeting, Obama told Modi that the US “strongly supports” India’s membership to the NSG. The US President said the passage of the goods and services tax will unleash significant economic activity.
The two leaders reviewed progress on Indo-US collaboration in nuclear energy, solar energy and innovation. The PM invited Obama to visit India after he demits office. The President said he will continue to be a “strong partner of India and help in any way” he can.
In his address at the East Asia Summit, the PM, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, said the competitive advantage of one country in India’s neighbourhood rested solely in producing and exporting terrorism. He said the time has come to sanction and isolate this instigator. Earlier this week, the PM had highlighted Pakistan’s export of terror at the G20 Summit as well.
On the South China Sea imbroglio, the PM said India supports freedom of navigation, as he sought “utmost respect” for international law and said “the threat or use of force” to resolve would complicate matters affecting peace and stability.
Apart from Obama, the PM had a “pull aside” with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and meetings with Laotian PM ThonglounSisoulith, Myanmar Counsellor of State Aung San Suu Kyi, South Korea President Park Geun-hye and Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev.
Modi also chaired the India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit, where he said that export of terror was a common security threat. He returned to New Delhi in the evening.
