Rajnath Singh says the US withdrawing from the Paris deal came as a shock for India. (File)
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said US President Donald Trump's statement withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement had come as a shock for India, but was sure the US would rethink its decision.
Inaugurating a two-day conference on "Capacity Building of State Disaster Response Force 2017", Mr Singh said it was a cause of concern for India and the world community if a country thinks only about its own interests.
"The US president's statement on Paris agreement has come as a shock for us and the international community. I am sure the US will rethink its decision," he said.
It has to be seen in what circumstances the US president made the statement on the Paris accord, Mr Singh added.
Announcing the US withdrawal from the Paris deal on June 1, Mr Trump claimed that India had made its participation in the agreement "contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions dollars in foreign aid".
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj rejected Mr Trump's comment yesterday and said India signed the Paris climate pact not because of pressure from any country or due to the lure of money.
"Our signature in the pact was not because of greed, it was not because of fear. We signed it due to our commitment to protecting the environment... India will continue to be part of it irrespective of whether the US remains in it or not," Ms Swaraj told reporters at a conference to mark three years of the Narendra Modi government.