PM returns home after attending Paris summit

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday welcomed the meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Paris climate summit.

Earlier, the PM held a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Climate Summit in the French capital.

The Express Tribune carried the headline as “Ice melts as Nawaz Modi shake hands” on the front page and reported that when the world leaders were struggling to hammer a deal on climate change, the ice melted on Pakistan’s ties with India due to meeting between the two leaders. The leaders of two countries that are drifting further apart at the wrong time in their respective histories made a decision to acknowledge each other’s presence. In addition, China this year OK’d the building of 115 coal-fired power plants.

The US said that the ambitious renewable programme including scaling up solar and wind energy pledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “enormously impressive” and it will work with Indian partners to provide assistance in realising their goals. “Many important parts of the country are vulnerable”, said Dr. Rajwant Singh, President of the Washington based EcoSikh. “Many in India begin their day with a prayer to the Sun”, he said.

Hollande said the alliance would enable a transfer of funds and technology from rich members to poorer ones “to reduce inequalities and ensure development”.

Arunabha Ghosh, chief executive of the Council for Energy, Environment and Water in India, described it as a “historic step for global cooperation”.

Addressing a packed audience, which was treated to visuals and a song on the theme, Mr. Modi said solar had created a revolution, as costs had declined sharply, technology continued to evolve and grid connectivity was improving. Modi also unveiled a book authored by him on innovations, “Convenient Action”.

The Kyoto Protocol, a resolution formed after a climate conference in Japan in 1997, had set binding targets for carbon emission. The prime minister, however, declined to divulge details of his brief meeting with the Indian prime minister. “The principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities must remain the bedrock of our collective enterprise”. “Anything else would be morally wrong”, he wrote, adding: “Justice demands that, with what little carbon we can still safely burn, developing countries are allowed to grow”.