Mauritius to join Modi's solar alliance initiative: Jugnauth

Promising to stand by India on all global platforms, Mauritius has agreed to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed solar alliance to deal with the climate change related issues at the upcoming Paris summit.

Ahead of the crucial global climate change summit later this month, India has proposed a partnership of countries rich in solar energy to present a united front.

When asked whether Mauritius would be joining the solar alliance, the island nation's Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth replied in the affirmative.

"Yes of course. We have always been associated with India, we are always helped by India and it is more than a century of history. As far as possible, we always stand by India," he told PTI in an interview here.

The idea of solar alliance was mooted by Modi during the recently concluded India-Africa Forum Summit, which was attended by Jugnauth and other African leaders.

"I also invite you to join an alliance of solar-rich countries that I have proposed to launch in Paris on November 30 at the time of COP-21 meeting. Our goal is to make solar energy an integral part of our life and take it to the most unconnected villages and communities," Modi had said.

Under its climate action plans, India has pledged to achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from "non-fossil fuel" based energy resources by 2030, with solar constituting the major chunk.

India is already pursuing an ambitious renewable energy plan whereby the target for installed solar power capacity has been set at 100 GW by 2022.

Jugnauth, who was here to attend the India-Africa Summit, said that Mauritius' relationship with India is "very special".

"It is very different from rest of Africa because a majority of people of Mauritius are people of Indian origin... So I can say that our ties with India are more natural than anything else. It is not artificial and it is not because of business or anything of that sort," he noted.

On the discussions about climate change, Jugnauth said it is an international problem and not just a question only for Mauritius, India and Africa.

"From the Paris meet, people expect a lot but today that (climate change) is not a question of India, Mauritius or Africa, it is an international problem.

"It will affect all countries even the most developed and therefore to avoid a real catastrophic situation, I think people realise that we should all get together and try to take decisions that will minimise the ill effects of climate change and other problems," he said.

India hosted 41 Heads of State and Government and hundreds of senior officials from 54 African countries at the Summit, where Modi assured them all possible assistance, including in strategic areas of defence, counter-terrorism, security, trade and infrastructure development.