India committed to eliminating single-use plastic: PM Modi at One Ocean Summit

New Delhi, Feb 11: Noting that India is committed to eliminating single-use plastic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the country will be happy to join France in launching a global initiative on it.

PM Modi made the remarks in a video message to the high-level segment of the One Ocean Summit.

"India has always been a maritime civilization. Our ancient scriptures and literature talk about the gifts of the oceans including marine life. Today, our security and prosperity are linked to oceans," the prime minister said.

"India's ''Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative'' contains marine resources as a key pillar. India supports the French initiative of a ''High Ambition Coalition on Bio-diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction ''. We hope for a legally binding international treaty this year," he added.

"India is committed to eliminating single-use plastic. India recently undertook a nation-wide awareness campaign to clean plastic and other waste from coastal areas. Three hundred thousand young people collected almost 13 tons of plastic waste," he further said.

"I have also directed our Navy to contribute100 ship-days this year to cleaning plastic waste from the seas. India will be happy to join France in launching a global initiative on single use plastics," the prime minister concluded.

The summit is being organised by France from February 9-11 in Brest in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank.

The objective of the summit is to mobilise the international community to take tangible action towards preserving and supporting healthy and sustainable ocean ecosystems.

The high-level segment of the summit will also be addressed by several other heads of states and governments.