- Thursday, April 18, 2024
The external affairs minister will visit South Africa from June 1 to 3 to participate in the BRICS foreign ministers meeting being held in Cape Town, the external affairs ministry said.
By: Shubham Ghosh
India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is set to kick off his three-day visit to South Africa starting Thursday (1) to take part in a conclave of the BRICS nations in Cape Town.
From South Africa, the diplomat will fly to its neighbouring Namibia for a visit between June 4 and 6, according to India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA).
“The external affairs minister will visit South Africa from June 1 to 3 to participate in the BRICS foreign ministers meeting being held in Cape Town,” the MEA said in a statement.
The BRICS grouping brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade
Besides attending the BRICS meeting in Capetown, Jaishankar will also hold a bilateral meeting with his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor.
He will also call on the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with other BRICS foreign ministers and participate in ‘Friends of BRICS’. Jaishankar will also have an interaction with the Indian diaspora in Capetown, the MEA said.
His visit to Namibia will be the first by an external affairs minister of India to the south-western African nation which became independent in 1990.
“During the visit the external affairs minister will call on the top leadership of the country and also meet with other ministers of the government,” the MEA said.
It said Jaishankar will also co-chair the inaugural session of the joint commission meeting with the Namibian deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah.
He will also interact with the Indian diaspora based in Namibia.
“The external affairs minister’s visit to South Africa and Namibia is expected to further strengthen India’s strong bilateral relations with these two countries,” the MEA said.
In April, Jaishankar visited Mozambique and Uganda, two of India’s key partners in southern and eastern Africa, respectively.
(With PTI inputs)
