E-Paper
India-US agree to revamp energy partnership ahead of climate summit
Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm have decided to revamp the India-US Strategic Energy Partnership.
India and the US on Monday decided to revamp the existing energy cooperation framework to focus more on clean energy keeping advanced American technology and the rapidly growing Indian energy market in mind to reflect new priorities set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden, an official said.
Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm have decided to revamp the India-US Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) accordingly and convene the third meeting of the revamped SEP at an early date, the official said requesting anonymity.
“Earlier, two SEPs were [held under the Trump Administration], where the focus of energy cooperation was more on supply of fossil fuels from America rather than cooperation in reducing carbon footprints. While the import of fossil fuel from the US will continue, Washington will support India’s efforts for clean energy,” the official said. The inaugural SEP, a ministerial meeting, was first held on April 17, 2018. Its second meeting took place on July 17, 2020.
Prior to the third meeting of SEP, Pradhan and Granholm on Monday held a virtual conference and agreed to revamp it to reflect the new priorities of PM Modi and President Biden with a focus on promoting clean energy to accelerate green energy cooperation, the petroleum ministry said in a statement. Granholm assumed the post of US energy secretary in the Biden administration last month.
In a telephonic conversation on February 8, 2021, PM Modi and President Biden stressed the need for a rules-based international order and underscored the urgency to address the challenge of global climate change. India welcomed America’s decision to re-commit to the Paris Agreement, reversing the Trump administration’s move to disengage from the process to fight the man-made climate change. <blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>1. Had an excellent introductory meeting virtually with US Secretary of Energy H.E Jennifer Granholm. Congratulated <a href=”https://twitter.com/SecGranholm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@SecGranholm</a> on assuming the high office. Reviewed the India-US Strategic Energy Cooperation (SEP). <a href=”https://twitter.com/ENERGY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ENERGY</a> <a href=”https://t.co/pm6WNORYY4”>pic.twitter.com/pm6WNORYY4</a></p>— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) <a href=”https://twitter.com/dpradhanbjp/status/1376523265582063619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 29, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8”></script>
The development on Monday is significant as Biden on Friday invited 40 world leaders, including PM Modi, to a two-day virtual climate summit that he will host on April 22-23. Leaders of China and Russia are also invited to the summit.
Pradhan and Granholm agreed to prioritise greater collaboration in the clean energy sector, such as biofuels, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), hydrogen production and carbon sequestration, through technology exchange, joint research and development (R&D) through Partnership to Advance Clean Energy Research (PACE-R), the statement said.
India and the US would convene the third meeting of a revamped SEP at an early date, it said. “They decided to intensify the efforts to take advantage of the complementarities of both the countries --advanced US technologies and rapidly growing India’s energy market, for a win-win situation through a cleaner energy route with low carbon pathways,” it added.
