India and the United States revealed on Tuesday India’s agreement to work toward joining the Paris Agreement on climate change this year, after a meeting held in the White House between President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“We discussed how we can, as quickly as possible, bring the Paris Agreement into force,” Obama told reporters during talks in the Oval Office.

Noting that both countries took part in the talks that led to the historic climate pact in France, as India is considered to be the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the United States.

The agreement, forged last year, will take effect when at least 55 countries representing 55 percent of global emissions ratify it. As of late last month 17 small countries had ratified the pact, according to the United Nations, and many others including the United States and China have pledged to ratify it in 2016.

India and USA welcomed the start of work to build six Westinghouse AP 1000 reactors in India, the culmination of 10 years of working to resolve civil nuclear issues; and to accomplish the project they are working to complete a financing package.