New Delhi: Heads and deputy heads of government/state of over 20 countries will attend the “founding conference” of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) — a global initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-that will take place in the Capital on Sunday. The ISA was launched jointly by India and France in 2015. PM Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron will be attending the founding conference along with several other leaders.
After holding bilateral talks with President Macron, PM Modi on Saturday said, “When the International Solar Alliance was launched in 2015, it happened in Paris with the then French President. Tomorrow, the holding of Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance is a vivid example of our active awareness of shared responsibilities. I am glad that this auspicious work is being done with the President of France.”
The Indo-French Joint Statement on Saturday said, “The two leaders welcomed the entry into force of the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and looked forward to co-hosting the ISA Founding Conference on 11th March 2018 in New Delhi. The leaders underlined their commitment to furthering and deepening concrete projects and programmes under the aegis of ISA to mobilise affordable financing for massive solar energy deployment.”
PM Modi also met several of the leaders including from African countries on Saturday in bilateral meetings ahead of the start of the main conference on Sunday that will take place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.
India will extend financial Lines of Credit worth millions of dollars to several nations as part of the ISA, with many of these being African nations. This is expected to counter Chinese influence in Africa. The ISA was conceived “as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and will provide a platform to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach”. It was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015 by PM Modi and the then French president Francois Hollande.
