HOPE TRUMP RETHINKS PARIS DEAL PULLOUT, SAYS RAJNATH

Union home minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday the US President Donald Trump’s statement about his country exiting the Paris climate agreement came as a shock and that India is hopeful that the United States would rethink its decision.

Speaking at the two-day conference on ‘Capacity Building of State Disaster Response Force 2017’ in New Delhi, Singh said it was a cause of concern if a country thinks only about its own interests.

“The US president’s statement on Paris agreement has come as a shock for us and the international community. I am sure the US will l rethink its decision,” he said.

The home minister said it had to be seen in what circumstances the US president made the statement on the Paris accord.

Trump named India and China among the reasons he called the deal unfair.

The US president said the deal was not tough enough on China and India. China will continue polluting for a “staggering number of years”, he said.

He also said “India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions, billions and billions of foreign aid from developed countries” and while the US was expected to cut production of coal under the accord, India could double it.

On Monday, Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj rejected the charge and said India did not sign the Paris climate pact under pressure from any country or for the lure of money. “Our signature in the pact was not because of greed, it was not because of fear. We signed it due to our commitment to protecting the environment ... India will continue to be part of it irrespective of whether the US remains in it or not,” Swaraj told reporters.