South Africa’s Consul General lauds ties with India
The Consul General of South Africa has praised the state of bilateral relations between Pretoria and New Delhi, according to a report by The New Indian Express. The remarks underline the depth of a partnership that has been built over more than a century and continues to shape diplomacy on both continents.
A relationship rooted in history
Ties between South Africa and India stretch back to the late nineteenth century, when large numbers of Indians were brought to what was then Natal as indentured labourers to work on sugar plantations. Among the early arrivals was a young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose two decades in South Africa between 1893 and 1914 helped shape the philosophy of non-violent resistance that would later guide both Indian independence and the global anti-apartheid movement. India remained a vocal opponent of apartheid at the United Nations and in other multilateral forums throughout the twentieth century, providing political and material support to the African National Congress.
Modern partnership
Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the two countries have built a wide-ranging partnership spanning trade, technology, mining, defence and pharmaceuticals. Both are members of the Brics bloc of emerging economies, the G20 and the Ibsa trilateral forum with Brazil, alongside a steady stream of high-level bilateral visits. Indian companies have invested in sectors ranging from automotive manufacturing to telecommunications in South Africa, while South African firms have looked to the Indian market for exports of minerals and agricultural goods.
The Indian diaspora
The relationship is also reinforced by a community of more than a million people of Indian origin living in South Africa, concentrated mainly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Generations of Indian South Africans, alongside successive waves of professional migrants, have helped maintain strong people-to-people links even as official diplomacy has expanded.
Such public endorsements of the relationship from senior diplomats reflect the strategic importance both countries continue to attach to a partnership that blends shared history with contemporary cooperation.
Sources
This report was written from coverage published by the following news organisations. Follow the links for the original reporting.
