India, US to work closely on Mission Innovation

'Mission Innovation' is an initiative to accelerate global energy innovation to address climate change, provide affordable clean energy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India will work closely with the US on "Mission Innovation" that was launched by US President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Francois Hollande on Sunday, ahead of the Conference of Parties (CoP-21) climate summit that got underway here.

"Mission Innovation" is an initiative to dramatically accelerate public and private global energy innovation to address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers, including in the developing world and create commercial opportunities in clean energy.

"India will work closely with US on Mission Innovation," Modi said during a bilateral meeting with Obama on the sidelines of CoP-21.

Modi said that development and preservation should go-hand-in-hand.

"Protecting our climate is a priority for India," he said.

Obama said that the US and India agreed that climate change was an "urgent threat".

"A meeting between @POTUS (President of the United States) and PM @narendramodi on the sidelines of @COP21," PMO India tweeted ahead of delegation-level talks between the two sides.

Earlier on Monday, Modi held bilateral meetings with French President Francois Hollande and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and a brief meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

After inaugurating the India Pavilion at the summit, the Indian prime minister also attended a lunch hosted by Hollande for the visiting world leaders.