Reacting to US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday emphasised that the issue is not about being on one side or the other, but about being on the side of generations yet to be born.
During the interactive session at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, PM Modi spoke of the vision for New India, and about the Vedas written 5,000 years ago.
"The Vedas have said that milking of nature is permitted, but exploitation of nature is not," he said.
The PM highlighted that he had been asked this question three days ago in Germany, and he had said at that time that whether or not there is a Paris accord, India's traditions have been to hand over a clean planet, with clean air, to our children, so that they too can live well.
On India's relations with Russia and China, PM Modi said that the world is no longer bipolar as it was a few decades ago. "When we discuss global relations, we must understand that the whole world is interconnected and interdependent. Every country is connected to every other in some way, and there may be areas of differences, as well as of cooperation," he said.
Reiterating that relations between India and Russia are strong, the PM said that the whole world will read the St. Petersburg Declaration carefully, to understand this relationship, and see how the two countries move forward.
With China, PM Modi said that though there is a border dispute, not a single shot has been fired across the border in the last 40 years. Economic relations are expanding, the Prime Minister said.
"The relationship between two countries should not be seen through the prism of a third. India believes in the credo of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas," the Prime Minister said, adding that his government wishes to take everyone together on the path to development.
Terrorism
The Prime Minister further said that in the eighties and nineties, the world did not fully understand terrorism and the dangers it posed. "India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for 40 years. It was only after 9/11 that the world understood the true horrors of terrorism and the fact that it has no boundaries," he said.
The Prime Minister said that the need of the hour is for all humanitarian forces to unite to save the world from terrorism.
Global trade
The Prime Minister said that India believes in an open economy. He said that in global trade, all countries make adjustments for each other, and should help each other.
