South African President Cyril Ramaphosa arrives in India; says visit will consolidate ties

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa began his two-day visit to India on Friday with a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Later in the day, he paid tribute at Raj Ghat - the Samadhi of the 'father of the nation' Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking at Rashtrapati Bhawan he said, "It's a real joy and pleasure to be here in India. This is a historic visit for us as South Africans because we are not only here to consolidate relation between India and South Africa but also to remember the great leaders our two countries have had".

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Lauding and remembering Mahatma Gandhi and South African leader Nelson Mandela he said, "Gandhi and Mandela are the two outstanding leaders that have blazed the particular trail for respect for human rights, freedom, and democracy. They have put a path that all of us are traversing and we are the inheritors of the great work they have performed and we are in their awe."

"My coming here as the President of South Africa is to celebrate with people of India and I am pleased PM Modi invited me. This is joy for us South Africans to be here, " he added.

Ramaphosa will be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade to be held in Delhi on Saturday.

PM Modi personally handed over the invitation to him when he met him on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina in December 2018. Ramaphosa will be the eleventh African leader to be the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.

This comes at a time when India is increasing its engagement with Africa and celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

This is the second time when a South African President will be the chief guest at Republic Day. In 1995, the then President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was the chief guest.

The South African President is being accompanied by the First Lady Dr. Tshepo Motsepe, and a high-level delegation including nine ministers, senior officials of his government along with a 50-member business delegation.

Over 150 Indian companies have invested in South Africa, employing over 20,000 locals. The bilateral trade increased to $ 10.65 billion in 2018-19 from $ 9.38 billion in 2017-18. Both countries are members of UN, BRICS, G-20, Commonwealth, Indian-Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa).

PM Modi had visited South Africa from July 7-9 in 2016, he visited Pretoria, Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg, and Durban. Former South African President Jacob Zuma had visited India twice in the last four years - first for the third India Africa summit in 2015 and later for the BRICS summit in Goa in 2016.