New Delhi [India], September 13 : South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday praised India’s leadership as BRICS chair, saying New Delhi successfully brought different countries together to adopt the New Delhi Declaration despite initial challenges in reaching consensus.
Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Ramaphosa said India organised an “extremely well-organised summit” and provided leadership throughout the process.
Answering ANI's question on how India managed to bring BRICS members together for the New Delhi Declaration and on his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ramaphosa praised India's leadership, saying New Delhi successfully hosted a well-organised summit.
“What India has done well was to organise an extremely well-organised summit. Organising summits is always a touch-and-go type of process. There are many things that could go wrong; nothing went wrong. So we congratulate India for doing so,” Ramaphosa said.
He said the host country plays a crucial role in guiding discussions and helping members reach decisions.
“When a host convenes a summit, they take the reins of leadership. They direct the discussions, and they also cajole everyone towards a decision. So that's what India has done extremely well,” he said.
Ramaphosa added that India acted as the focal point in the process of achieving consensus among BRICS nations.
“Whilst all countries have to cooperate and reach consensus, they need a focal point, and India was the focal point and the lead, bringing light to all this. So we really congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all his various ministers; they have done extremely well,” he said.
On his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit, Ramaphosa said the two leaders discussed the special and strategic relationship between India and South Africa.
“In our bilateral with Prime Minister, we reflected on the relationship between South Africa and India and did say that it is a special and strategic relationship,” he said.
Ramaphosa recalled the signing of the strategic partnership between the two countries in 1997 during former South African President Nelson Mandela’s visit to India and said the two nations will mark 30 years of the relationship next year.
“The relationship really got seriously underway in 1997 when President Mandela was here. We signed a strategic agreement. They call it the Red Fort Declaration in 1997. Prime Minister Modi commented that we'll be celebrating 30 years of this strategic relationship, and I promptly invited him to come to South Africa next year so that we can together celebrate the strategic partnership between South Africa and India, and to come, if possible, on Nelson Mandela's birthday so that we celebrate the great men, but we also spoke about the Gandhi Mandela scholarship that has been in operation for a while," he said.
He further said the discussions also covered areas including trade, investment and ways to further deepen economic ties between the two countries.
“We touched on trade issues, investment issues, and how we can deepen our relationship at an economic level,” Ramaphosa said.
The South African President also congratulated India for its achievements in space exploration and technological advancement, saying India has shown leadership among developing economies.
“India, in the developing economy world, apart from China, is showing leadership, and we can see that the two countries are giving great leadership also in a number of areas,” he said.
He also highlighted India’s progress in agriculture and empowerment of small-scale farmers and women, saying South Africa has much to learn from India.
“Technologically, you can see that India is moving ahead, doing many strides in agriculture. They have empowered a lot of small-scale farmers, women especially. And there's a lot that we can learn from them,” he said.
"So, it was a very good bilateral, very relaxed and very purposeful as well," Ramaphosa added.
BRICS leaders on Saturday unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration, which stressed the importance of building reliable, responsible and resilient supply chains for critical minerals and highlighted the need for sustainable and fair resource management.
The summit was hosted by India under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.