The first ever International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit is set to begin in New Delhi on Sunday. At Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed dignitaries from the countries participating in the Summit.

As a symbolic gesture, the Cultural Centre was given the look of the Modhera Sun temple in Gujarat.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena were among those received by the PM.

The dignitaries had arrived in New Delhi on Saturday for the historic Summit. The conference will be co-chaired by PM Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, who arrived on a four-day visit on Friday night.

A series of agreements were signed by the ISA and global financial institutions, including development banks, on Saturday.

“The International Solar Alliance and the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Green climate fund, and the New Development Bank signed joint financial partnership declarations,” an official statement from the Ministry of Finance said.

The ISA also signed a joint partnership declaration with the International Energy Agency in presence of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, it added.

The solar alliance is working for deployment of over 1,000 GW of solar energy and would mobilise more than $1,000 billion into solar energy by 2030, according to the statement.

The Summit assumes significance in view of India’s ambitious renewable energy target of having 175 GW clean energy capacities including 100 GW solar and 60 GW wind power.

The ISA was conceived after PM Modi’s 2015 speech in London where he proposed the idea of an inter-governmental organisation comprising of 121 countries, which lie either completely or partly between the two Tropics, with an aim to promote solar energy.

Besides the heads of 23 nations, 10 ministerial representatives of different countries will attend the Summit.

Several global bankers have confirmed their participation at the event including Werner Hoyer, President & Chairman, European Investment Bank, KV Kamath, President, BRICS Development Bank, Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, Energy & Natural Resources, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Banbang Susantono, Vice President, ASIAN Development Bank.

UN Environment chief Erik Solheim, who will be at the Summit, termed the ISA a “big step” towards greater global energy security and a “milestone” in the fight against climate change and pollution.

(With inputs from agencies.)