South African Prez Cyril Ramaphosa to be the guest of honour for Indian R-Day
New Delhi, Jan 22 (IBNS): At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa will undertake a state visit to India on Jan 25-26 as a State Guest of Honour for Republic Day 2019.
President Ramaphosa will be accompanied by the First Lady Dr. Tshepo Motsepe, and a high level delegation including nine Ministers, senior officials of his Government and a 50-member business delegation.
This is the first visit to India by Ramaphosa as head of state. He is the second President of South Africa after President Nelson Mandela to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day.
Ramaphosa will be accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Jan 25, and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind will host a State Banquet in honour of the visiting President the same evening.
President Ramaphosa accompanied by First Lady will pay his respects to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at Rajghat whose 150th birth anniversary is being celebrated both nationally and internationally and who has a special resonance in South Africa.
He will have a bilateral meeting and hold delegation level talks with the Prime Minister on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
The Prime Minister will host a lunch for the President Ramaphosa on Jan 25.
President Ramaphosa along with Prime Minister Modi will address the India-South Africa Business Forum on the same day with the objective to grow business ties between the two countries.
He will also deliver the Gandhi-Mandela Freedom Lecture organized by Indian Council of World Affairs under IBSA framework as a part of the celebrations of the 15th Anniversary of IBSA.
Ramaphosa accompanied by the First Lady, Dr. Tshepo Motsepe, will witness the Republic Day parade as Guest of Honour on Jan 26. They will also attend the ‘At Home’ hosted by the President in the same afternoon before he departs South Africa from New Delhi.
India and South Africa enjoy a close and multifaceted strategic partnership since 1997, which is underpinned by historic, cultural and economic linkages.
Several high-level visits have been exchanged in the recent past, including visit of Prime Minister for the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.
About 1.5 million Indian Origin People live in South Africa and form an enduring link. Over 150 Indian companies have invested in South Africa employing over 20,000 locals.
India is among the top five trading partners of South Africa. The bilateral trade has increased to US $ 10.65 billion in 2018-19 from US $ 9.38 billion in 2017-18.
Both countries have close cooperation in the areas of vocational training, capacity building etc.
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