New Delhi: India and South Africa on Friday signed an agreement to further deepen their strategic partnership following delegation-level talks led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa here.
The Three-Year Strategic Programme of Cooperation is aimed at enhancing the Strategic Partnership Agreement that was signed in 1997 by prime minister HD Deva Gowda and South African President Nelson Mandela in 1997.
In a joint address to the media with Ramaphosa following the talks, Modi said that both sides reviewed the entire gamut of their bilateral ties.
“Our trade and investment ties are becoming more and more intense,” he said. “Our bilateral trade is more than $10 billion.” Modi said that Indian companies are contributing to President Ramphosa’s efforts to increase investments in South Africa.
Stating that India is a partner in South Africa’s efforts in skill development, he said that a Gandhi-Mandela Skills Institute will soon be opened in Pretoria.
“We are both committed to take our relationship to a new level,” he said. The prime minister said that both India and South Africa are strategically located in the Indian Ocean region.
He said both countries are pluralistic democracies that are carrying forward the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
On his part, Ramaphosa said that that India is a strategic partner for South Africa.
— IANS
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