India, ISA Sign Agreement on Solar Project
■ This agreement focuses on solar energy projects in Fiji, Comoros, Madagascar, and Seychelles, which aims to enhance energy access in these regions.
■ The agreement follows the Quad Leaders’ Summit in Delaware, held in September 2024.
■ India has pledged an investment of $2 million towards these solar projects.
■ Solar projects will concentrate on three main areas :
Cold storage facilities for agricultural products.
Solarisation of healthcare centres.
Solar-powered water pumps for irrigation.
Bonus Facts:
■ Quad – The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, known as the Quad, consists of India, the USA, Japan, and Australia. It focuses on strategic cooperation, including clean energy initiatives and regional security.
International Solar Alliance ISA
■ This initiative was first proposed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech in November 2015 at Wembley Stadium in which he referred to sunshine countries as Suryaputra (“Sons of the Sun”).
■ In January 2016, Narendra Modi, and the then French President François Hollande jointly laid the foundation stone of the ISA Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) in Gwal Pahari, Gurugram, India.
■ The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 120 signatory countries, most being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
■ The primary objective of the alliance is to work for the efficient consumption of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.