COP26: PM Modi, Boris Johnson to together launch resilient infra initiative

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Boris Johnson would jointly launch the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) initiative at the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-26) in Glasgow.

Talking about PM Modi’s programme at COP26 on the second day, Shringla said, “It will be a very busy day, which will begin with the photo-op of the leaders at 8:30 in the morning. You have a special session that would be the launch of the initiative for Resilient Island States (IRIS), which is essentially part of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) that would focus on building capacity, having pilot projects, especially in small island developing states, that would also involve, in some sense, setting up norms and standards for resilient infrastructure.”

During the press briefing, Mr Shringla said that the “Prime Minister has pointed out that, in many cases, lives are lost, but livelihoods and entire infrastructure, housing, everything that is to do with infrastructure, is lost with cyclones, etc. Especially small island states and coastal areas vulnerable to these ravages of climate change. And this is an effort to try and equip countries that are particularly vulnerable to these effects of climate change.”

The Foreign Secretary added, “You will have the launch of the Infrastructure for the Resilient Island States called IRIS. This will involve a joint effort between India and the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will jointly launch and you will have the participation of Australia, which is also a partner in this effort.”

He stated that a number of small island leaders, including Frank Bainimarama, Prime Minister of Fiji, Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica, and Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius, will speak at the event where  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will also speak. 

PM Modi is scheduled to meet a number of foreign leaders on Tuesday. According to Shringla, he will also meet some people who are well known for their work on climate change and socio-economic development.

“In the afternoon, we have an event which is called accelerating clean technology, innovation and deployment. This is hosted by Prime Minister Johnson and essentially, PM Johnson and PM Modi will launch another initiative which is called “One World One Sun, One Grid,” he said.

“Green Grid,” a UK initiative, and “One Word One Sun One Grid,” a National Solar Alliance presented by India, will be jointly introduced as a new initiative, he said, and would essentially attempt to promote global connectivity through solar grids.

“This launch will be with the participation of the US President Joe Biden. We will have the participation of the Prince of the United Arab Emirates. We will have Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, who will be part of that initiative. You also have Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya, who will be also part of this effort,” he said.

“Both the initiatives– Infrastructure for Resilient Island States as well as the One World One Sun One Grid– are very, very important global initiatives that are part of our efforts to try and get more capacity building, more involvement and, more support to other countries, especially developing countries across the world,” he added.