The President of the Republic of Maldives was on a state visit to India recently. The visit has been fruitful for India’s renewable energy sector as the country has found another ally to battle climate change.

India announced provision of financial assistance up to $ 1.4 billion in the form of budgetary support, currency swap and concessional lines of credit to fulfil the socio-economic development programs in Maldives.

India and Maldives will cooperate closely for the growth of renewable energy sector. The heads of both the countries agreed on the importance of combatting the impacts of climate change, especially detrimental to developing countries, and small island developing states, and the need to work towards strengthening the global response to climate change.

During the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldives’ President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih emphasized on the need to improve connectivity between the two countries through the establishment of enabling infrastructure that would promote the exchange of goods and services, information, ideas, culture, and people.

A government release on the visit stated, “Both leaders reviewed the efforts to promote bilateral trade and investment ties between the two countries. The Prime Minister of India welcomed the expanding opportunities for Indian companies to invest in the Maldives in different sectors for the mutual benefit of both countries. The Prime Minister noted that the vision of the government of Maldives, of a transparent, accountable, and rule-based administration sends a welcome message to regain the confidence of Indian business persons. Both leaders agreed to promote closer economic cooperation in sectors such as fisheries development, tourism, transportation, connectivity, health, education, information technology, new and renewable energy and communications.”

Both leaders also committed to strengthening the global response to climate change, through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

The joint statement by the two leaders is a welcome move, especially in the wake of growing concern about environmental degradation and global warming. In the recent past, India has entered into numerous agreements with other countries to combat climate change, transfer the required know-how and emerge as a leader in combating climate change.

Recently India signed an MoU with France to cooperate in the field of renewable energy. This came on the heels of two other MoUs signed with Morocco and Guyana in which the participant countries agreed to cooperate for the expansion of renewable energy. Mercom also reported that after initiating and founding the ISA jointly with France, India entered bilateral agreements with Fiji and Greece to further the development of renewable energy generation and reduce their collective carbon footprint for a sustainable future.