Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves as he visits International Media Center, on the second day of the G20 summit in New Delhi, India, September 10, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit UAE to attend the U.N. climate conference (COP28) in Dubai starting this week, underlying the country's commitment to the issue of climate change, the government said in a statement.

Modi will be in UAE for two days from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.

"Climate change has been an important priority area of India's G20 Presidency... COP-28 will provide an opportunity to take forward these successes," the statement said on Sunday.

During India's recently concluded presidency of the G20, leaders agreed to pursue tripling renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 and accepted the need to phase-down unabated coal power, but stopped short of setting major climate goals.

Last week Reuters reported, France, backed by the United States, plans to seek a halt to private financing for coal-based power plants during the U.N. climate conference.

India is unlikely to favour such a plan and the proposal could further divide the group as major emerging nations like India still depend on coal to fuel its fast economic growth.

About 73% of electricity consumed in India is produced using coal, even though the country has increased its non-fossil capacity to 44% of its total installed power generation capacity.