Arvind Kejriwal was denied permission to fly to the summit on a technicality.
Highlights
- Delhi Chief Minister was denied permission to fly to Copenhagen summit
- Justifying the move, centre said C40 Climate Change Summit was for mayors
- He'll now speak on "solutions for clean air" through video conferencing
With the centre denying Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal permission to attend the C40 Climate Change Summit in Denmark's Copenhagen on the grounds of not holding a mayoral position, he has decided to deliver his address on ways to tackle air pollution through video conferencing instead.
Mr Kejriwal has accepted the summit organisers' request to deliver his address through video conferencing in a session titled "Breathe Deeply: City Solutions For Clean Air" today, the Delhi government said in a statement on Thursday. The Aam Aadmi Party chief will also address a joint press meet through video conferencing with mayors of six major world cities at noon the same day, it added.
The Delhi Chief Minister is expected to share his experiences on how he has successfully reduced air pollution in the national capital by 25 per cent over the last five years. "The Chief Minister is also likely to share his experience on how Delhi became the first city in the world to successfully implement the odd-even experiment for restricting vehicular traffic on the roads, which led to a reduction in air pollution in the national capital," the statement read.
The C40 summit, which connects over 90 of the world's leading cities to take bold climate action and build a healthier and more sustainable future, started in Denmark on October 9 and will conclude three days later.
On Wednesday, the Ministry of External Affairs had on Wednesday denied an eight-member delegation led by Mr Kejriwal permission to fly to Copenhagen for the event -- saying that the conference is meant for mayors and not Chief Ministers. "A considered decision on political clearance by the Ministry of External Affairs is based on multiple inputs and takes into account the nature of the event, the level of participation by other countries, type of invitation extended, etc... The Chief Minister of one of the largest and populous cities in the world, which also is the capital of India, was therefore advised not to attend the event," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson explained.
Other than Mr Kejriwal, the session will be attended by the mayors of Paris, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Barcelona and Portland.
(With inputs from ANI)