Republic of India was the sole contender for the post of President, the Co-Presidency was contested between the Republic of France and Grenada, with the Republic of France emerging victorious of International Solar Alliance (ISA) for 2024-26 in the seventh session of ISA Assembly held at the iconic Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

The Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the International Solar Alliance provide for the election of the President, Co-President, and Vice Presidents.

The Assembly elects the President and Co-President, with due regard to equitable geographical representation. The four regional groups of the ISA Members include Africa; Asia and the Pacific; Europe and Others; and Latin America and the Caribbean. Eight Vice Presidents of the Standing Committee, two from each of the four ISA geographical regions, are selected based on seniority in terms of submitting the instrument of ratification to the depositary on a rotation basis from the ISA Member Countries in the specific region.

The Republic of Ghana and the Republic of Seychelles will hold office as Vice Presidents for the Africa region; the Commonwealth of Australia and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka for Asia and the Pacific region; the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Italy for Europe and the others region; Grenada and Republic of Suriname from the Latin America and the Caribbean region.

As the apex decision-making body of ISA, the Assembly holds significant authority and responsibility. It represents each member country and makes crucial decisions concerning the implementation of the ISA’s Framework Agreement and coordinated actions to be taken to achieve its objective.

The Assembly meets annually at the ministerial level at the ISA’s seat, underscoring the regularity and importance of these gatherings. It assesses the aggregate effect of the programmes and other activities in terms of deployment of solar energy, performance, reliability, cost, and scale of finance.

The Seventh Session of the ISA Assembly is currently deliberating on the ISA's key initiatives, focusing on three critical issues - energy access, energy security, and energy transition. These discussions aim to address and find solutions to these pressing global concerns.

In another development, ISA also selected Ashish Khanna from the Republic of India as its third Director General. The Director General of ISA plays a crucial role in supporting the Assembly in advancing the International Solar Alliance mandate. This includes supporting member countries in addressing common challenges and engaging in coordinated action to scale up the deployment of solar energy globally.

Ashish Khanna, Director General – Designate, ISA, expounding on his plans for expanding ISA’s reach and impact, said the focus has to shift from ‘what’ to ‘how’ as most countries are aware of what needs to be done, but require assistance in reaching those goals. He added that the Alliance will benefit from participating in international fora, where the motivation should be twofold: to explore collaborations, work together, and learn from each other's experiences. Moving forward, he said he looks forward to building on what is working well and grooming existing partnerships, and he stressed purity of intent and passion for results.”

The International Solar Alliance is an international organisation with 120 member and signatory countries. It works with governments to improve energy access and security worldwide and promote solar power as a sustainable transition to a carbon-neutral future. ISA’s mission is to unlock US $1 trillion of investments in solar by 2030 while reducing the cost of the technology and its financing. It promotes the use of solar energy in the agriculture, health, transport, and power generation sectors.