"When it comes to expertise, no better country than India," Maldives Minister calls to strengthen cooperation in renewable energy sector

New Delhi [India], October 29 (ANI): Deputy Minister of the Maldives' Ministry of Tourism and Environment, Hussain Ageel Naseer, hailed India's expertise in the renewable energy sector and called for deeper cooperation between the two countries.

"When it comes to expertise, there is no better country than India to have renewable energy experts and in other sectors. India could facilitate us in financial terms to increase our renewable energy," Hussain Ageel Naseer said at the sidelines of the Eighth Session of the International Solar Alliance Assembly (ISA)

He also hoped that ISA could help the Maldives establish a proper framework to increase renewable energy and facilitate the country's attainment of its goal.

"We believe ISA could help us establish a proper framework... ISA could facilitate us with other partners to obtain proper financing to increase our renewable energy," he said.

Additionally, ISA Director General Ashish Khanna outlined the alliance's goals, including establishing the same standards for buying solar PV inverters and batteries and developing an African solar facility.

"To define the way forward, we are creating platforms that enable countries to come together, aggregate their demand, and achieve big things at a low cost... We are launching harmonised standards so that all countries will have the same standards for buying solar PV inverters or batteries," Ashish Khanna told ANI.

"We will also make many announcements about the Africa solar facility, which will be the first risk-mitigation product to help decentralise renewable energy in Africa, and a set of knowledge products, because we are also here to share knowledge," he added.

Speaking about India's partnership with Middle-east in terms of renewable energy, he said, "If you had asked me 3-4 years ago if there is a future for India getting connected to the Middle East, I would have said that it would be very expensive, very difficult. But we believe there is a lot more work on technical feasibility. Once the technical feasibility is done, we will bring countries together."

Earlier, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said on Tuesday that representatives of more than 120 countries took part in the opening plenary of the Eighth Session of the International Solar Alliance Assembly (ISA) in New Delhi.

The minister said that ISA member countries account for 40 per cent of global solar energy and also noted the progress under the PM Kusum and PM Surya Ghar schemes.

"Overall, worldwide, whatever solar exists today, 40 per cent is in ISA membership. That is the one proud moment for us. India is sharing its experience with many countries. As far as PM Kusum and PM Surya Ghar are concerned, our model is the most successful model. As of now, we have installed 21 lakh PM Suryagarh. Out of that, nearly 48% people are getting zero bill, and some of them are earning out of that..." he said.

President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the opening plenary of the Eighth Session of the ISA Assembly on Tuesday.

The ISA is a collaborative initiative between India and France aimed at uniting efforts to combat climate change by implementing solar energy solutions. It was conceptualized on the side lines of COP21 in Paris in 2015. (ANI)

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