Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday held a delegation-level bilateral meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg on the…
PM Narendra Modi with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in July. (Photo: PIB)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday held a delegation-level bilateral meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit. During the meeting, the South African President appreciated India’s initiative to give the African Union full membership of G-20. President Ramaphosa also expressed his full support for India’s G-20 presidency.
The G20 is an inter-governmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). India took over the presidency of the G20 from Indonesia in December last year. Indonesian President Joko Widodo handed the G20 Presidential gavel to PM Modi in a handover ceremony at the close of the Bali summit. In 2024, South Africa will join India and Brazil as part of the G20 Troika, a three-member group of past, current, and succeeding presidencies.
PM Modi and President Ramaphosa also discussed bilateral ties between India and South Africa and reviewed the progress of their relations. Both leaders exchanged their views on “continued coordination in multilateral bodies and regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest.
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Prime Minister Modi also congratulated President Ramaphosa on the successful hosting of the 15th BRICS Summit. President Ramaphosa has also invited PM Modi to pay a state visit to South Africa.
The bilateral meeting was also attended by Union External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his South African counterpart.
After South Africa, the Prime Minister will next embark on his state visit to Greece on August 25. This will be the first official visit of a sitting Indian Prime Minister to Greece in the last four decades.
The prime minister will be accorded a ceremonial welcome upon his arrival in Athens. PM Modi will then visit the tomb of unknown soldiers, followed by a restricted delegation-level talk with Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. After the meeting, both leaders will jointly address key business leaders of the two countries.
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