New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday held bilateral discussions with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, with a focus on boosting trade and investment ties.
Modi also held a series of meetings with other global leaders, including Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Burundi President A‰variste Ndayishimiye, Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo, and Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Officials said boosting cooperation in trade, investment, defence and people-to-people ties was a dominant theme at the meetings,
In a social media post, Modi said he and Ramaphosa reviewed the full breadth of the India-South Africa strategic partnership including cooperation in mining and critical minerals, infrastructure, food security, digital public infrastructure and emerging technologies.
“Our partnership is rooted in history and firmly focused on the future. We will work closely for Africa’s progress, the priorities of the Global South and a more balanced global order,” he said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two leaders exchanged views on a range of global issues of mutual interest and agreed to maintain close coordination in multilateral fora.
“In the context of the successful translocation of cheetahs from South Africa to India, the prime minister invited South Africa to consider joining the International Big Cat Alliance,” it said.
The prime minister said he and Marcos Jr reviewed the growing momentum in the India-Philippines strategic partnership with a key focus on economic linkages, cooperation in technology, trade, space and innovation.
“We also discussed ways to further strengthen India-ASEAN engagement,” he said.
The MEA said the two leaders expressed satisfaction at the progress made in bilateral cooperation across all areas and agreed to further deepen and expand collaboration in the fields of defence and security, trade and investment, space, railway infrastructure, fintech, education, tourism, science and technology, and innovation.
Modi said on social media that he had a “wonderful interaction” with President El-Sisi. “We talked about various issues, notably regional issues and the India-Egypt friendship that is significantly growing in recent times.”
On his meeting with Tokayev, Modi said he had “productive discussions” with the Kazakh President on giving “fresh momentum” to the India-Kazakhstan strategic partnership.
“We see immense potential to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, energy, technology, connectivity and innovation, while further strengthening our close cultural and people-to-people ties,” he said.
Modi said he congratulated Burundi President Ndayishimiye on becoming chair of the African Union.
“We discussed strengthening India-Burundi ties in development cooperation, capacity building, youth skilling, agriculture and clean energy,” the prime minister said.
The MEA said the two leaders, while recalling India’s role in bringing the African Union into the G20 fold during its presidency in 2023, stressed that the India-African Union partnership is a key pillar of cooperation within the Global South.
PM Modi also commended the AU leadership for successfully combating the Ebola outbreak.
The prime minister and Nigerian Vice President Shettima discussed cooperation in areas such as trade, power, clean energy, fertilisers and defence.
“We also reviewed cooperation in health, capacity building, technology and more,” Modi said.
Modi, on his interaction with President Subianto, said India and Indonesia will keep strengthening their partnership across a wide range of sectors.
The prime minister said he and Uganda Vice President Alupo discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in healthcare, agriculture, digital technologies and capacity building.
PTI
