Modi asks West for clean N-tech

PM launches pollution index, says India is not a hurdle to cleaning up the world

Amid mounting concerns over the poor air quality in the nation’s capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a National Air Quality Index on Monday to monitor air quality in India’s big cities, including Hyderabad, and suggested that developed nations should not “lecture” India on clean energy unless they were ready to provide it with access to nuclear fuel.

Addressing a conference of state environment ministers, Mr Modi said the irony was that the world gives lectures on climate, but if India says it wants to move forward in nuclear energy as it is a good path for environmental protection and when it asks them to provide the fuel for nuclear energy, they then refuse. “Everybody has come to believe the world is concerned about climate change, but India is posing hurdles... We have grown up in a culture where nature is worshipped like God and protecting nature is linked to humanity. But, due to some reasons, may be we have been ruled by others for centuries, we are inhibited in expressing our point of view. Till the time we gain confidence in ourselves, we will not be able deal with the problem,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Modi’s assertions come in the backdrop of criticism by Western countries in particular of the “unhealthy” air quali- ty in the country’s metropolitan cities, particularly New Delhi, which has been categorised as one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Mr Modi said India should be a global leader in the fight against climate change instead of being forced to follow the parameters laid down by others.