Janjivan Bureau / St Petersburg (Russia): Hours after the US President walked out of the Paris climate accord, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reiterated India’s commitment to reducing carbon emission and leaving an earth which is “beautiful and pure” for the future generations.
Refusing to be drawn into a debate on whether he supported or was opposed to President Donald Trump’s action, Modi said he will take the side of the future generations and held the view that mankind cannot exploit nature.
In a speech to global businesses gathered for the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), he quoted the Vedas to say “exploiting of the nature is a crime but milking of the nature by humans is a right.”
Later, when the moderator asked which side of the climate change debate he stood, and whether he disagreed with Trump’s stand, Modi remained diplomatically neutral.
“I have in simple way stated the dream of ‘new India’. I quoted from the 5000-year-old Vedas to say humans have a right to milk the nature but have no right to exploit it,” he told the gathering in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Paris or no Paris, our commitment to preserving the climate is for the sake of future generations,” Modi said while responding to a question about US President Donald Trump announcing withdrawal of the USA from the Climate Change deal.
He said he had made the same comment in Germany three days back when “nobody’s comment had come”, an apparent reference to Trump’s announcement today. “I said it in then, I say it now,” he added.
At that time, Modi had replied, “Paris or no Paris, it is our conviction that we have no right to snatch from our future generation their right to have a clean and beautiful earth.” “We should leave to new generation an earth that is beautiful and clean,” Modi said. “I don’t think I should go this side or that. This subject is of future generations and I would go towards future generations.”
“It is part of our thinking and for that reason we do not believe in exploitation of the nature. We people do not have the right to take more than necessary from the nature,” he said.
Hours earlier, Trump had announced that the US was withdrawing from the Paris climate change deal, which had been agreed by more than 190 nations. The US President said the agreement “unfairly benefited” countries like India and China.
Modi said India is investing massively in renewable energy and it has set an ambitious target of adding 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. “This does not include nuclear energy but is only solar, wind, biomass and hydro (power).” “This is because we are moving ahead as a responsible country while protecting the environment and this is our very old commitment,” he said.
Modi recalled his days as Chief Minister of Gujarat, much before global warming was discussed or Paris agreement was even discussed. He said Gujarat was the fourth government is the world which had set up a department for environment protection.
“This is our commitment, and we are moving forward based on this commitment,” the Prime Minister said.
By distributing 40 crore LED bulbs, India has in the last three years saved energy “which will help the humankind in environment protection,” he said.
“I invite you all, 125 crore people of the country are inviting you, the world’s most ancient nation is inviting you for economic development … in the spirit of ‘sky is the limit’, I once again invite you,” he told the business leaders.
Recalling his initial address, the Prime Minister said that in a very simple way, he spoke of the vision for New India, and about the Vedas written 5000 years ago. He said the Vedas have said that milking of nature is permitted, but exploitation of nature is not.
He said that he had been asked this question three days ago in Germany, and he had said at that time that whether or not there is a Paris accord, India’s traditions have been to hand over a clean planet, with clean air, to our children, so that they too can live well. He emphasized that the issue here is not about being on one side or the other, but about being on the side of generations yet to be born.
The Prime Minister said that the world is no longer bipolar as it was a few decades ago. He said that when we discuss global relations, we must understand that the whole world is interconnected and interdependent. He said every country is connected to every other in some way, and there may be areas of differences, as well as of cooperation.
Reiterating that relations between India and Russia are strong, the Prime Minister said that the whole world will read the St. Petersburg Declaration carefully, to understand this relationship, and see how we move forward.
With China, the Prime Minister said that though there is a border dispute, not a single shot has been fired across the border in the last forty years. Economic relations are expanding, the Prime Minister said. He said that the relationship between any two countries, should not be seen from the prism of a third. He said that in BRICS, all member countries are working together. In this context, he mentioned the BRICS Bank as an example. India believes in the credo of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, the Prime Minister said, adding that we wish to take everyone together on the path to development.
