India, France to institutionalise cooperation in environment conservation: Harsh Vardhan

India and France have decided to set up a joint working group to institutionalise cooperation in conservation of environment, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.

The environment minister held delegation-level talks with Brune Poirson, French Minister of State for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, who is the part of a team led by President Emmanuel Macron on cooperation in the field of conservation of environment and biodiversity.

"India and France decide to set up a joint working group to institutionalise cooperation in the area of conservation of environment. French Minister Poirson said, it is an ambitious beginning & India France should overcome barriers in deepening cooperation," Harsh Vardhan tweeted yesterday.

"The French Minister said, she will ask her country's embassy in New Delhi to work out further modalities. Ms Poirson also showed keen interest in the innovative #GreenGoodDeeds campaign and its promotion through a mobile application," he posted.

He also held a bilateral meet with Frederique Vidal, French Minister for Education Research and Innovation.

The environment minister also said Vidal agreed to Indian proposal to hold the first Indo-French Science and Technology Joint Committee Meeting in Delhi during May or June to help expand the scope and contents of future cooperation.

"India and France being founder partners of Intl. Solar Alliance plan to set up Indo- French Solar Energy Research & Innovation Centre for developing deployable solar technologies," he tweeted.

Harsh Vardhan had also called on visiting Guyana President David A. Granger and discussed the issue of climate change and its impact on India's natural resources in particular.