High Commission of India in South Africa

India-South Africa Relations

Historical Background

India had been in the forefront of the international community in supporting the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa ever since Mahatma Gandhi started his Satyagraha movement in South Africa over a century ago. India was the first country to sever trade relations with the apartheid Government in 1946, and subsequently imposed a complete - diplomatic, commercial, cultural and sports- embargo on South Africa. India worked consistently to put the issue of apartheid on the agenda of the UN, NAM and other multilateral organizations and for the imposition of comprehensive international sanctions against South Africa. The ANC maintained a representative office in New Delhi from the 1960s onwards.

2. Following the commencement of talks between the then South African Government and the ANC, India's relations with South Africa were restored after a gap of over four decades with the opening of a Cultural Centre in Johannesburg in May 1993. Formal diplomatic and consular relations with South Africa were restored in November 1993 during the visit to India of the then South African Foreign Minister Pik Botha. A Consulate General was thereafter established in Johannesburg. The Indian High Commission in Pretoria was opened in May 1994, followed by the opening of the Consulate General in Durban the same month. Since Parliament in South Africa meets in Cape Town, a permanent office of the High Commission was opened there in 1996. In addition to its High Commission in Delhi, South Africa has a Consulate General in Mumbai.

Political Relations

Development of political relations since 1994

3. Against the background of India's consistent support to the anti-apartheid struggle, there has been a steady consolidation of our close and friendly ties with South Africa, both bilaterally and through the trilateral IBSA Dialogue Forum. A number of bilateral agreements have been concluded between the two countries since the assumption of diplomatic relations in 1993 in diverse areas ranging from economic and commercial cooperation, defence, culture, heath, human settlements, public administration, science and technology and education.

Recent High Level visits

4. Vice President M. Hamid Ansari visited South Africa on May 8-10, 2009 to attend the Inauguration of Mr. Jacob Zuma, the 4th democratically elected President of South Africa.

5. President Kgalema Motlanthe attended the 3rd IBSA Summit in New Delhi on 15 October, 2008, his first visit aboard since becoming President of South Africa.

6. President Pratibha Patil made a brief technical stop over in Cape Town on April 24, 2008 on her way back to India after her visit to Latin American countries.

7. President Thabo Mbeki, accompanied by Foreign Minister Dlamini-Zuma visited India from April 7-9, 2008 to participate in the India-Africa Forum Summit in New Delhi.

8. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, led a high level delegation to South Africa to attend the 2nd IBSA Summit in October 2007. At the end of the Summit, the Tshwane IBSA Summit Declaration was issued on 17 October 2007. Seven trilateral MOUs/Agreements were also signed between India, South Africa and Brazil.

9. Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson, UPA and Congress President, from August 21-23, 2007 at the invitation of the Deputy President of South Africa. She was accompanied by then MOS(AS), Shri Anand Sharma. During her visit, Mrs. Gandhi met former President Nelson Mandela, President Thabo Mbeki, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and had a very extensive interaction with ANC leadership. Mrs. Gandhi also delivered the inaugural Lecture in the Gandhi Lecture Series at the University of Cape Town and also addressed ANC Caucus at the Parliament.

10. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh made an official visit to South Africa from September 30 to October 3, 2006, accompanied by Minister of Tourism Smt. Ambika Soni, MOS Shri Anand Sharma and a high level delegation. The Tshwane Declaration was signed during the visit, reaffirming and deepening the strategic partnership between India and South Africa and laying down benchmarks in all areas of cooperation including heath, science & technology, trade & investment, defence, culture and education. Two bilateral agreements were also signed during the visit - on cooperation in railways and education.

11. South African Deputy President Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka visited India from September 10-13, 2006 at the invitation of Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. The visit of the Deputy President, who was accompanied by five Ministers, was in the context of South Africa's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA) and Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), which are aimed at ensuring a shared and faster economic growth in South Africa and meeting the critical skills shortage in the country.

12. President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visited South Africa in September 2004, the first visit to this country by an Indian President. Speaking at the Pan African Parliament during the visit, President Kalam reaffirmed India's engagement with Africa. He announced Government of India's offer of creating a $50 million-worth integrated satellite and fibre-optic wireless network for improved communication connectivity among the 53 African countries, which could be used for tele-education, tele-medicine and e-services.

13. Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat visited South Africa in April-May, 2004. He attended the inauguration of the President of South Africa and celebration of 10 years of democracy.

Joint Commission and Foreign Office Consultations

14. The India-South Africa Joint Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers was set up in 1994 to identify areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. The 7th session of the Joint Ministerial Commission was held in Pretoria in February 2008 for which EAM Shri Pranab Mukherjee visited South Africa, together with a high level delegation. During the visit, three new Agreements on Customs Cooperation, S&T and visa free travel for diplomatic and official passport holders were signed. South African Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, Ms. Maite Nkoana-Mashabane visited India in November 2009 on an official visit.

IBSA Initiative

15. On June 6, 2003, the Foreign Ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa met in Brasilia and agreed to set up a Dialogue Forum for regular consultations on such matters. Three Summits have been held so far, the most recent in New Delhi on October 15, 2008. Currently, a total of 16 sectoral Working Groups have been established in areas as diverse as health, agriculture, education, human settlements, science & technology and defence.

Multilateral Cooperation

16. India and South Africa have a common approach on many global issues, including UNSC reform, the future of multilateralism, climate change, South-South Cooperation and multilateral trade negotiations. This has led to fruitful cooperation in the UN, NAM, Commonwealth, IAEA, IOR-ARC, WTO, G-77, G-20 and the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP). South Africa lent strong proactive support to the proposal to enable full civil nuclear cooperation with India at the IAEA and the NSG meetings which enabled India to get the historic waiver from the NSG.

NEPAD

17. India has strongly supported the objectives of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, which is headquartered in South Africa. A sum of US$ 200 million has been committed for this purpose to be utilized through credit lines, grants etc. Some major projects in Angola, Senegal and Mali have already been undertaken.

ITEC Programme

18. The International Technical Cooperation Programme (ITEC) has been a useful medium of promoting cooperation in development of human resources. South Africa has utilized about 500 slots since 2000. Due to increase in utilization, the number of slots allocated to South Africa were increased from 55 to 100 in 2006, as agreed during Prime Minister's visit in October 2006 and subsequently to 110 following the India-Africa Forum Summit in April 2008. Last year, slots available for South Africa for 2010-2011 have been reduced to 90.

Education

19. In the field of higher education, a number of South African universities are establishing links with counterpart institutions in India. We have facilitated the process by hosting Vice Chancellors of several prominent South African universities. A Centre of Indian Studies in Africa (CISA) was launched in September 2008 at the University of the Witwatersrand, the first 'India focus' centre in Africa. The Gandhi-Luthuli Chair of Peace Studies was also launched in September 2008 in the University of KZN. Universities such as UNISA, University of Pretoria, UCT, Western Cape and Rhodes too have plans for intensifying academic links with India.

Defence

20. Defence is an important area of cooperation. A Defence Cooperation Agreement was signed in September 2000. It has provided the framework for further strengthening cooperation in this sector.

21. The Sixth meeting of the Defence Committee was held in India on March 13-14, 2008. The meeting discussed issues such as exchange of observers in military exercises, South African participation in training courses in India, visit of training delegations, exchange of senior level military courses and sports and adventure activities. Our MOS(Defence) visited South Africa in September 2008 to attend the Africa Aerospace and Defence Exhibition in Cape Town. Gen. Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Army Staff, visited South Africa on November 24-27, 2008 at the invitation of the South African Chief of Army. The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Sureesh Mehta, visited South Africa from June 14-19, 2009.

Commercial & Economic Relations

22. Commercial relations have flourished since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1993. On the trade front, it is particularly noteworthy that the value of bilateral trade has gone up by 33% from about US$ 4.7 billion in 2006-07 to US$ 6.27 billion in 2007-08 and 7.5 billion in 2008-2009. Bilateral trade figures since 2001 are as follows:

Figures in M. US$	2003-2004	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009 (Jan-May)
India's Exports	539.35	984.04	1,526.87	2,244.74	2,658.67	1,980.28
India's Imports	1,899.19	2,197.67	2,471.80	2,469.73	3,614.86	5,513.58
Total Trade	2,438.54	3,181.70	3,998.67	4,714.47	6,273.53	7,493.87

Source: Department of Commerce, Govt. of India.

23. There is substantial untapped potential for trade growth between the two countries. Potential exports from India to South Africa include vehicles and components thereof, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, computer software, engineering goods, footwear, dyes and intermediates, chemicals, textiles, rice, and gems and jewellery, etc. Potential areas of import from South Africa to India have been identified as rock phosphates, precious stones and minerals, fertilizers, steel, coal, transport equipment, pulp and pulp manufacturing, etc.

24. Although accurate data on Indian FDI in South Africa is not available from Indian or South African authorities, our estimates based on interactions with heads of the relevant Indian companies indicate that they are currently executing projects worth over US$ 2 billion in South Africa. Major investors include Tatas (vehicles, IT, ferrochrome plant), the UB Group (beer manufacture, hotels), Mahindras (utility vehicles) and a number of pharmaceutical companies, including Ranbaxy, CIPLA, etc.

25. Just as Indian investment in South Africa has been rising, there is also a growing trend of South African investments in India led by SAB Miller (breweries), ACSA (upgradation of Mumbai airport), SANLAM and Old Mutual (insurance), ALTECH (set top boxes), Adcock Ingram (pharmaceuticals), Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank (banking).

26. An important initiative under negotiation between the two countries is the India-SACU Preferential Trade Agreement, eventually leading to a Free Trade Agreement between India, SACU and MERCOSUR (a large'free trade area of the South' ). Four rounds of negotiations between SACU and India have been held so far, the last in Pretoria in October 2009. An Agreement for Reciprocal Promotion and Protection of Investments (BIPPA) is also pending. Early conclusion of these agreements could provide a real impetus to trade and investment.

27. Commercial interaction has been aided by the establishment of an India-South Africa CEOs' Forum which has met four times, last in Mumbai in August 2007. The Forum is chaired by Mr. Ratan Tata on the Indian side and Mr. Patrice Motsepe, CEO of African Rainbow Minerals and Chairperson of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) on the South African side. A proposal from our side to revitalize the CEOs Forum and to revise its Terms of Reference are awaiting concurrence of the SA side. An India Business Forum (IBF) was launched on March 11, 2007 in Johannesburg. This organization brings together the heads of all Indian companies in SA and provides a platform for promoting brand India and for taking up issues of common concern. IBF currently includes 39 companies and is managed by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

28. The presence of Indian banks (State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, EXIM Bank and ICICI Bank) has promoted economic interaction. Resident offices of GOI Tourist Office and National Small Industries' Corporation are also active in promoting cooperation.

Tourism:

29. Tourism from South Africa to India to has shown an upward trend but is still below potential, and is hampered by poor air connectivity between the two countries. Recent figures are tabulated below:

Inbound/outbound	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
India to South Africa	41,018	36,172	36,045	NA	NA	NA
South Africa to India	23,873	32,129	39,239	38,739	41,855	35,856

30. The International Marketing Council (IMC) of South Africa has an office in Mumbai - only its third office abroad. The IMC, which works directly under the Presidency, has the mandate of promoting South Africa as a brand in foreign countries.

Culture

31. With the help of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an intensive programme of cultural exchanges is being promoted throughout South Africa. A highlight of the cultural calendar is the 'Shared Histories' programme organized as a public-private partnership whose third edition ran from August-September 2009. The SA Minister of Arts & Culture Mr. Pallo Jordan visited India from December 7-10, 2007 during which he also inaugurated a major South African art exhibition 'Scratches on the Face'. Mrs. Ambika Soni, Minister for Tourism and Culture visited South Africa from August 14-17, 2008 and signed the Programme of Cooperation in the fields of Arts and Culture between India and South Africa for 2008-2011.

Indian Community

32. The major part of the Indian community came to South Africa during 1860 - 1911 as indentured farm labour to serve as field hands and mill operatives in the sugar and other agricultural plantations of Natal (which was then a British colony). Although they were given the opportunity to return home on completion of their contracts, most preferred to stay on either as farmers on crown land in Natal or as petty businessmen.

33. Most of the initial migrants were drawn from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh areas with some from eastern UP and Bihar. A second wave of Indians came after 1880. These were the "passenger Indians" - so-called because they paid their fares as passengers on board a steamship bound for South Africa. This was the community of traders who mainly hailed from Gujarat.

34. Today, the South African Indian origin community numbers around 1.5 million and constitutes about 2.5% of South Africa's total population of 47.4 million. About 80% of the Indian community lives in the province of KwaZulu Natal, about 15% in the Gauteng (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5% in Cape Town. Indian South Africans are well-represented in Government, business, media, legal and other professions. Currently, there are 13 Members of Parliament of Indian origin, including two Cabinet Ministers and four Deputy Ministers. 2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Indians to South Africa.

Conclusion

35. Relations linking the two countries today are warm, cooperative and multi-dimensional. Rooted deeply in history, they now cover virtually all fields of human endeavor and enjoy regional and international significance. Sustained efforts to strengthen, deepen and diversify them are bound to bring rich dividends in future.