Modi demonstrated Indian leadership on climate change: White House

During his Oval Office meeting with Modi today, Obama is expected to discuss economic ties along with national security

Notwithstanding a "difficult political" climate in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "demonstrated" the country's leadership on the issue of climate change, the White House has said ahead of his crucial meeting with US President Barack Obama.

During his Oval Office meeting with Modi today, Obama is expected to discuss the economic ties along with national security, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday.

Earnest, however, did not divulge on the possible outcome of the meeting.

"I don't have anything to say about potential deliverables yet. We may have more on this tomorrow, obviously. I can tell you that there are a couple of things that the President is interested in discussing with Prime Minister Modi," he said.

"The first is obviously the important role that India played in completing an international climate change agreement. We discussed back in December in Paris that India was going to play an important role in making important commitments to this agreement that would ensure that the world came together to confront this challenge," the presidential spokesman said.

Obama had an opportunity to meet Modi and the rest of the Indian delegation to those negotiations, to talk over what role India could play and what commitments India could make.

"Obviously, this is a situation where Prime Minister Modi demonstrated a lot of leadership even in the face of a difficult political climate back home. He committed his country to standards that will be good for the Indian people, but more importantly, will be good for the rest of the world, too," Earnest said.

"So obviously, the President has a lot of respect for the way that Prime Minister Modi has handled this issue. And I would anticipate that they'll have a discussion about what more the US and India can do to advance the climate agenda," he said.