India-South Africa Relations

Political Relations:

Development of political relations since 1994

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Against this background, India-South Africa relations in the post-Apartheid era have developed smoothly. A number of bilateral agreements have been concluded between India and South Africa since the assumption of diplomatic relations in 1993 in diverse areas ranging from defence, culture, science and
economic cooperation. Momentum and level of political contacts have steadily increased as indicated in following sections.

Recent High Level visits

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In April 2005, Shri Rahul Gandhi, MP visited South Africa to accept on behalf of late Prime Minister Pandit Nehru the award of the Companion of Oliver Tambo(Gold), the country’s highest award for foreigners. In March, External Affairs Minister Shri Natwar Singh visited South Africa for the 2nd IBSA Ministerial meeting. Later in the month, Rao Inderjit Singh, MOS for External Affairs paid a bilateral visit. In 2004, President Kalam visited the country in September, the first visit to this country by an Indian President. He was accompanied by the Minister for Social Empowerment and Justice Mrs. Meira Kumar. He held wide-ranging discussions with President Thabo Mbeki. Both leaders reiterated the need for expanded trade between the two countries. A bilateral Memorandum of Understanding on Information and Communications Technolgies was signed during the visit. The presidents agreed that the two countries could share their expertise and strengths for growth of both countries. Speaking at the Pan African Parliament during the visit, President Kalam reaffirmed India’s engagement with Africa. He announced Government of India’s offer of creating a $50 million-worth integrated satellite and fibre-optic wireless network for improved communication connectivity among the 53 African countries, which could be used for tele-education, telemedicine and e-services.

President Mbeki, accompanied by the First Lady and 11 Cabinet Ministers, visited India in October, 2003. This was his second visit, but first as President of South Africa. Five important documents were signed on the occasion. These included: an Extradition Treaty; an Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in
Criminal Matters, Cultural Exchange Programme for 2004-2006 and Agreements on cooperation in the field of power and in the field of hydrocarbons.

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A Joint Declaration reaffirming the commitment of the two countries ‘towards a strategic partnership, based on their shared values: democracy, economic development with social justice, and a just and equitable global order’ was issued during the visit.

Vice President of India, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat visited South Africa from April 26-May 1, 2004. He attended the inauguration of the President of South Africa and celebration of 10 years of democracy. He also inaugurated the launch of the Centenary Celebrations of the Phoenix Settlement in Durban. His visit
imparted further impetus to the already warm bilateral relations.

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Other visits

There has been a regular exchange of visits at the Ministerial and other high political levels. Incoming Ministerial visits in 2003 include that of Shri A.G. Geete, Minister of Power (March) and Shri Yashwant Sinha, Minister of External Affairs for 5th Joint Commission Meeting (July). From the South African side, Ms. I. Cassaburi, Minister of Communications visited India (April), Mr. Ben Ngubane, Minister of Arts, Culture, S&T (July) for a UNESCO aided conference ‘Dialogue among Civilizations’ and Mr, Lekota, Defence Minister (December). In 2004, Raksha Mantri visited South Africa for IBSA meet on February 1. MOS for External Affairs visited Durban in August 2004 for the XIVth NAM Ministerial Conference. Outgoing visits included that of Minister in the South African Presidency, Mr. Essop Pahad who went to India (January) for the CII Partnership Summit. He met the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission. South African Foreign Minister, Ms. N.Dlamini Zuma, visited India for the trilateral IBSA Meeting (March }. South African Minister of Minerals & Energy (who was at the time concurrently responsible for Science & Technology) visited India in March for a multilateral conference on Women in Science & Technology. A three-Minister delegation comprising the Minister of ICT, Minister of Public Administration and the Minister in the Presidency visited India in the first week of September 2004. National Intelligence Minister Mr. Ronnie Kasrils visited India in March 2005 and Minister in the Presidency, Mr. Essop Pahad in May 2005 for the 2nd CEOs’ conference.

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Joint Commission and Foreign Office consultations

The India-South Africa Joint Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers was set up in 1994 to identify areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. Its 5th highly successful session took place in Pretoria in July 2003. It reviewed the current status of bilateral cooperation. The Ministers discussed developments in political relations as well as in bilateral trade and economic cooperation, defence and cultural exchanges.
The meeting also provided the opportunity for a very useful exchange of views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, including the forthcoming WTO Ministerial Conference at Cancun, the Middle East peace process, challenges facing the United Nations and the Non Aligned Movement and cooperation in multilateral
fora. Next Ministerial Joint Commission was to take place in May, 2005 in India but was postponed due to sudden bereavement of the South African Foreign Minister.

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Foreign Office Consultations were last held in New Delhi towards the end of July 2002. The talks covered the whole gamut of bilateral relations.

IBSA Initiative

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On June 6, 2003, the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa met in Brasilia and agreed to set up a Dialogue Forum for regular consultations on such matters. The 1st meeting of the IBSA Trilateral Ministerial Commission was held in New Delhi on March 4-5, 2004. The three Foreign Ministers agreed on a Plan of Action for trilateral cooperation in the fields of Transportation (Civil Aviation and Shipping), Tourism, Trade & Investment, Infrastructure, Job creation and small, medium and micro-enterprises, Science & Technology, Information Society, EGovernance, Capacity Building, Local Content Development, E-Health, Information Society, Health, Energy, Defence and Education. The 2nd Ministerial Commission met in Cape Town on March 10-11,2005.

Other Multilateral Cooperation :

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India and South Africa have a common approach on many global issues, including the future of multilateralism, South-South Cooperation and multilateral trade negotiations. This has led to fruitful cooperation in NAM (South Africa was its last Chair), Commonwealth, IOR-ARC and the WTO. South Africa hosted the NAM Ministerial Meeting on 18-19 August, 2004.

President Mbeki attended the ASEAN Summit in November 2002, which led to agreement between Indonesia and South Africa to work towards the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Bandung. Accordingly, Indonesia hosted the first Asian- African sub-regional Organisation Conference (AASROC) Meeting in July 2003; cohosted by South Africa. The second Conference was held in South Africa on March
24, 2004. A follow up Conference at Ministerial level was held in Durban on 19-20th August,2004 following the NAM Ministerial Conference where the initiative was renamed “New Asia-Africa Strategic Partnership”. The Afro-Asian Summit concluded on April 24,2005.

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Commercial & Economic Relations: Commercial relations have flourished since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1993. From virtually nothing at that time, bilateral trade has crossed US$ one billion (excluding India’s imports of gold which are routed through the international gold bourse).

There is substantial untapped potential for growth between the two countries. Potential exports from India to South Africa have been identified as vehicles and components thereof, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, computer software, engineering goods, footwear, dyes and intermediates, chemicals, textiles, rice, and gems and jewellery, etc. Potential areas of import from South Africa to India have been identified as rock phosphates, precious stones and minerals, fertilizers, steel, coal, transport equipment, pulp and pulp manufacturing, etc.

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Indian investments in South Africa have grown in quantity as well as diversity. Investors include the UB Group of India (beer manufacture, hotels) Tatas (vehicles, IT, new investment in a ferrochrome plant), Shriram Industrial Enterprises (car air-conditioners), Mahindras (utility vehicles) and a number of pharmaceutical companies, including Ranbaxy, CIPLA etc. An Indian firm ‘Coromandel’ has acquired 26% stakes in ‘Foskor’, the third largest supplier of phosphoric acid to India. The Second National Operator in the telecom sector recently approved by the government has 26% participation of the Tata group. Investments in the opposite direction are less, but growing. Areas include insurance, breweries, and infrastructure. Reports also indicate keen interest of Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) in participating in the airport upgradation projects in India. A major South African chainstore (Shoprite) recently established an outlet in Mumbai.

Commercial interaction visits of businessmen, both ways, and trade promotion measures including participation in trade fairs, etc. have been and continue to be intensive. CII – which has an office in Johannesburg – organised ‘Enterprise India’ and ‘Made in India’ shows in 2001 and repeated them in 2003.
Another ‘Enterprise India’ show – with focus on ICT sector was held in Cape Town in March ,2005.
The India-South Africa Commercial Alliance (ISACA), which groups government and private sector on both sides, had become somewhat moribund but has now been successfully revived. It met last in South Africa in October 2004. An India-South Africa CEOs Forum had its first meeting in the same month. Its second meeting was held in Mumbai in early May, 2005.

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An important initiative under negotiation between the two countries is the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), eventually leading to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)/Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreement (CECA) between India and the South African Customs Union (SACU). Its early conclusion could provide a real impetus to trade and investment. Also under negotiation is Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

The presence of Indian banks (SBI, Bank of Baroda, EXIM Bank and recently opened ICICI Bank) has promoted economic interaction. EXIM Bank signed an agreement for a fresh Line of Credit of US$ 10 million with a major South African Bank in July 2003. Resident offices of GOI Tourist Office, National Small Industries’ Corporation and Confederation of Indian Industry are also active in promoting exchanges and cooperation. Engineering Export Promotion Council has also decided to open a resident office in Johannesburg.

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NEPAD: India has strongly supported the objectives of New Partnership for Africa’s Development. US$ 200 million have been committed for this purpose to be utilized through credit lines, grants etc. No projects have been identified as yet.

Defence: Defence is a key area of cooperation. A Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed in September 2000 during the then Raksha Mantri’s visit. It has provided the framework for further strengthening cooperation in this sector. The intention is to act beyond simply buying and selling, transcending to joint ventures and R&D and joint marketing in 3rd countries. The third Defence Committee meeting took place in
South Africa in December 2003. A large IAF contingent participated in a joint exercise ‘Golden Eagle’ from September 16 – October 4, 2004. India’s participation in the last Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in South Africa (September 2004) attracted considerable business interest. Four Indian ships paid a goodwill visit to
South Africa in June 2005.

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ITEC : Indian Government’s International Technical Cooperation Programme (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation - ITEC) has been a useful medium of promoting cooperation in development of human resources. South Africa has utilized over 450 slots since 2000. Due to increase in utilisation, the number of slots allocated to South Africa has been doubled from 50 to 100 since 2003.

Culture : With over a million people of Indian origin in South Africa, one of the largest Indian diaspora abroad, cultural exchanges and cultural diplomacy assume great importance, not just in terms of interaction with this community, but with South Africans across the whole spectrum of population. With the help of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an intensive programme of cultural exchanges is being promoted throughout South Africa. A major exhibition of Indian Modern Art is being planned for 2006.

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