Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping are among the 40 world leaders who will attend a US-led climate summit on Thursday.
The summit is set to boost hopes of cooperation between the world’s two largest greenhouse gas emitters even as they bicker over a host of diplomatic, trade, and human rights issues.
Apart from Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin was also invited by US President Joe Biden to attend the two-day virtual event.
Xi’s confirmation comes days after John Kerry, US special envoy on climate change, held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Xie Zhenhua, in Shanghai.
Xi, at the invitation of the US, will attend the summit via video and will deliver an “important” speech, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, on Wednesday.
It will be the first appearance of Xi and Joe Biden in the same event after the latter became US President in January.
Now, the two countries have discovered a patch of common ground on tackling the climate crisis.
Last week in Shanghai, Kerry and Xie agreed on concrete actions “in the 2020s” to reduce emissions.
The talks also marked a resumption of dialogue on climate halted during the Donald Trump administration, which had withdrawn the US from the Paris Agreement. Later, Biden put America back into the accord.
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