Rajnath hopes US will rethink on Paris accord withdrawal

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said he hoped that the United States will rethink about its decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change accord.

He further said that he was shocked over President Donald Trump's charge that India signed the Paris agreement to get "billions and billions and billions" of dollars from developed nations.

On Thursday, Trump announced the US's withdrawal from the Paris climate deal by calling it "draconian". In his comments on the occasion, he particularly targeted India.

"There are no political or administrative boundaries of disaster. To protect the environmental from imbalance, the international community needs to be on the same plane. Sometimes, if any country thinks of its own interest only and gives out the message that the whole world is not united on the issue, it's a matter of concern," Rajnath Singh said at a conference on 'Capacity Building of State Disaster Response Forces'.

"I don't know in which circumstances he gave the statement but I hope that the US will rethink the issue," the Minister said.

Rajnath Singh's remarks came a day after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj rubbished President Trump's charge and said that to accuse India of signing the agreement because it was pressurised by some countries or out of greed for foreign aid is completely baseless and unfortunate.