NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, the country's environment minister said on Thursday, in a boost for global efforts for steeper emission cuts to fight global warming.

India is the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States, and Modi's participation at the COP26, beginning later this month, was considered critical amid uncertainty over whether Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend.

"PM is going to Glasgow," Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav told Reuters in an interview.

 

(Reporting by Neha Arora; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Timothy Heritage) ((sanjeev.miglani@thomsonreuters.com; +91 11 49548038; Reuters Messaging: sanjeev.miglani@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))