South African President Ramaphosa to sign three-year road map during R-Day visit to take India ties forward

The comprehensive agreement will be a “catch-all document” with a programme of action covering fields such as defence, security, political relations, trade and investment, the blue economy, tourism, science and technology, IT and agriculture.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to India as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations will witness the signing of an agreement to forge a three-year road map to take forward the bilateral strategic partnership, Indian officials said on Thursday.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s presence as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade also reflects India’s growing efforts to engage African nations. (Reuters)

The comprehensive agreement will be a “catch-all document” with a programme of action covering fields such as defence, security, political relations, trade and investment, the blue economy, tourism, science and technology, IT and agriculture, said TS Tirumurti, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry.

“We have this strategic partnership but we wanted each of these areas to be taken up with a specific set of things we can do together... What we really needed was a roadmap because in some areas, we felt we could definitely move faster,” Tirumurti told a news briefing.

India and South Africa, which formed a strategic partnership in 1997, have close ties in areas such as trade and defence. Ramaphosa’s presence as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade also reflects India’s growing efforts to engage African nations.

Tirumurti said India is eyeing closer cooperation with all Indian Ocean Rim states and has defence cooperation agreements with practically all littoral African states along the Indian Ocean, with special focus on maritime security.