India will 'go above and beyond' to protect climate, assures Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India will 'go above and beyond' to protect climate as he termed the Paris climate agreement as a shared legacy of the world, a day after US President Donald Trump walked out of the deal.

After holding wide-ranging talks with newly-elected French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris, PM Modi said the Paris Agreement reflects "our duty towards protecting the Earth and our natural resources. For us, this is an article of faith."

"Paris climate agreement is a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations as well," PM Modi said addressing a joint press event with Macron.

His remarks came after US President Donald Trump announced plans to withdraw from the Paris climate change deal on curbing carbon emissions, which had been agreed by more than 190 nations. Mr Trump said the agreement unfairly benefited countries like India and China.

India would "continue working on this...above and beyond the Paris accord," Prime Minister Modi said.

"We have natural resources because our previous generations protected these resources. We must do the same for our future generations," PM Modi said. The Paris Agreement's central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise in this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The landmark agreement, which entered into force last November, calls on countries to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future, and to adapt to the increasing impacts of climate change. In the meeting, India and France also agreed to further deepen their cooperation to tackle the challenge posed by terrorism and extremism.

Speaking at a joint press event after holding wide- ranging talks, the two leaders voiced concern over the growing threat of terrorism worldwide. "Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today," Prime Minister Modi said, adding that France understands the threat posed by the menace.

He said terrorism is visible and it affects entire world, including France and India. "World needs to unite to defeat the menace of terrorism," Modi said. Macron said that the issues of tackling terrorism was discussed at length during his talks with Prime Minister Modi and France fully supports India's fight against terrorism. The two countries agreed to fight terrorism in all its forms, he added. Modi said India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties and the two nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally.

"Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties," the Prime Minister said. He also expressed interest in improving the cultural relations between India and France. Modi said several Indians fought in the first two world wars for world peace. Macron thanked Indian soldiers for their sacrifices for France's freedom during World Wars.

Modi invited the French president to visit India. Macron accepted the invitation and said he will be travelling to India by end of the year and the two sides will convene a meeting of the world solar alliance.