Ramaphosa's visit reaffirms India-South Africa bonds: Pravasi Bharatiya

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's participation as the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations on Saturday reaffirms the special relationship between the two countries, a Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awardee has said.

Ramaphosa is the second South African president to be invited to the event as the chief guest.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in 1995.

Anil Sooklal, who received the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman for his lifelong contribution in promoting relations between India and South Africa at the Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi, said the ties between India and South Africa have grown "exponentially since the dawn of democracy under President Nelson Mandela in 1994."

He said Ramaphosa's presence at the Republic day "is a clear message that the Indians are serious about South Africa and President Ramaphosa accepting the invitation by India is a message that South Africa treasures this relationship."

Sooklal lamented the fact that there was not enough knowledge among the South African public about the level of cooperative work being done by India and South Africa together.
"This is unfortunate," he said, adding that occasions like President Ramaphosa's visit should be regarded as a testimony to how important India regards South Africa."

Ramaphosa will attend a number of events, including a business summit here.

Sooklal was confident that the business summit where more than 200 industry leaders will be addressed by Ramaphosa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will yield good results.

"India does not need any convincing, with about 130 major Indian companies having major operations in South Africa, and the Indians are very keen to invest further. This (business) summit will be a very important forum to market South Africa as a great destination for investment.

Commenting on being part of the founding of IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) alliance that preceded BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Sooklal said IBSA continues to play a very dynamic role between the three countries, despite critics increasingly saying that it has been overshadowed by BRICS.

-PTI