Jaishankar met COP26 president-designate Alok Sharma, discuss India's Green Growth initiatives
Feb 16, 2021
New Delhi [India], February 16 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met Alok Sharma, president-designate of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) and held a discussion on India's Green Growth initiatives and the climate change agenda.
"Glad to meet COP26 President-designate @AlokSharma_RDG. Good discussions on India's Green Growth initiatives and the climate change agenda," Jaishankar tweeted.
UK Minister for COP26 Alok Sharma, who will lead a vital UN climate conference in Glasgow in November, arrived in India on Monday to hold talks with stakeholders to strengthen the India-UK partnership on climate change.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi met Alok Sharma and discussed India-UK cooperation on climate change agenda and upcoming COP26.
"Pleased to meet with COP26 President-designate @AlokSharma_RDG today. We discussed India-UK cooperation on climate change agenda and COP26. My best wishes to UK for the successful organisation of the climate summit," he tweeted.
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar also met Alok Sharma and discussed important issues, for negotiations to be held in Glasgow later this year.
"I showcased him and told about various initiatives taken by India on renewables, disaster-resilient infrastructure, adaptation, electrical buses, on metro expansion, our reduction of emission intensity and increasing tree cover. It was a very fruitful meeting," said Javadekar.
"Glasgow will host COP26, he (Alok Sharma) is meeting various leaders & discussing with them to arrive at landing zones. We discussed all issues which are contemporary and important issues for negotiations in Glasgow," the minister added.
After meeting Javadekar, Alok Sharma tweeted: "Wonderful to meet my friend Prakash Javadekar at the hugely innovative Paryavaran Bhawan, India's pioneering example of NetZero architecture A great place to discuss all things COP26."
This is Sharma's first visit to Asia as COP26 president-designate, where he is expected to welcome India's significant progress on climate action and clean energy transition.
Sharma's visit follows those of the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and International Trade Secretary Elizabeth Truss and paves the way for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's visit later this year, during which climate cooperation will be a focus.
