‘India did extremely well’: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa praises BRICS leadership

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday (Sept 13) praised India’s leadership as BRICS chair, saying New Delhi successfully brought member countries together to adopt the New Delhi Declaration despite doubts over whether consensus could be reached.

Speaking at a press conference after the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Ramaphosa credited the collective efforts of all member countries for the declaration’s adoption while particularly congratulating India for hosting the summit and guiding the discussions.

“In this BRICS Summit, we were able to adopt a declaration when many thought that we would not succeed in adopting a declaration. We did. In that regard, we congratulate all BRICS members, but also especially India for hosting a very successful BRICS Summit,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa praises India’s summit arrangements

Ramaphosa also praised India for the arrangements made for the two day summit and highlighted the scale of meetings and events held during the gathering.

“Everything was so well-arranged; they were able to lead us in holding 350 meetings or so in 30 cities. That takes a lot of doing by any host of a huge Summit like this,” he said.

“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,” he said.

He said the host country has an important role in steering discussions and helping member states move towards consensus.

“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,” Ramaphosa said.

“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 added.

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Ramaphosa, Modi discuss India South Africa ties

Ramaphosa also spoke about his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit, saying 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 strategic partnership agreement signed between the two countries in 1997 during former South African President Nelson Mandela’s visit to India. He said the two countries would mark 30 years of the strategic 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,” he said.

The two leaders also discussed trade, investment and ways to strengthen economic cooperation.

“We touched on trade issues, investment issues, and how we can deepen our relationship at an economic level,” Ramaphosa said.