PM Modi Welcomes US In India-Led International Solar Alliance, Says It Will Strengthen Grouping

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (10 November) welcomed United States in International Solar Alliance (ISA) and said that the move by US would further strengthen the alliance in its shared quest of harnessing solar energy for a sustainable planet.

The ISA, an initiative first proposed by PM Modi in a speech in November 2015 at Wembley Stadium in United Kingdom and later launched in Paris in 2015, is a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries (which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn) to address their special energy needs.

The United States on Wednesday became the 101st member country of the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA), as US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry signed the ISA framework agreement to catalyse global energy transition through a solar-led approach.

Announcing the US decision to join the initiative, US Climate Envoy John Kerry tweeted, "Accelerating solar energy deployment globally is critical to keeping a limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within reach. The US. is pleased to join the ISA at COP26. Thank you PM Modi and Bhupender Yadav for championing this important endeavor".

In a reply to t tweet by John Kerry, PM Modi said, "I thank President Biden and wholeheartedly welcome the USA to the International Solar Alliance. This will further strengthen the Alliance in our shared quest of harnessing solar energy for a sustainable planet".