Germany and India have signed a series of bilateral agreements that will see the South Asian country get 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion) in aid by 2030 to boost the use of clean energy.
The agreements were signed during a visit to Berlin by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, reported the Associated Press. Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz is seeking to elicit India’s support for the tough stance taken by Europe and the U.S. toward Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Modi reiterated his call to both Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict, saying: “We believe that no party can emerge victorious in this war,” reported AP.
The deals covered issues ranging from technical assistance to increase the use of renewable energy and hydrogen, to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting biodiversity and improving agricultural land use.
The environmental group Germanwatch welcomed the accords, describing India as “swing state” for global efforts to tackle climate change, added the AP.
“Accelerating the energy transition there is a vital contribution to staying within the 1.5-degree limit,” said its policy director Christoph Bals, referring to the warming threshold set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. He urged other members of the Group of Seven major industrialised economies to reach similar agreements with India.