Pretoria – South Africa will on Tuesday host the 9th session of the South Africa-India Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC).
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, will have engagements with the Indian Minister of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, as part of the Ministerial engagement.
“South Africa and India emphasised that trade relations must be accelerated, given the tremendous opportunities that exist in several key sectors of mutual interest,” department spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.
India is currently South Africa’s third largest trade partner in Asia and ranks amongst South Africa’s top six trade partners.
The engagement follows the meetings of the sub-committees over the period of 19 March to 18 May.
Monyela said the JMC comprises of seven sub-committees involving eleven national departments that focus on the identification, execution and monitoring of projects aimed at further enhancing and supporting relations.
The sub-committees have been constituted to focus on areas such as, political defence and security as well as trade, economic and technical cooperation.
Other areas include arts and culture, minerals and energy, human resources development as well as consular and immigration matters.
“During the engagement, the Ministers will review the work of the sub-committees, as it relates to and supports relations between the two countries. The Ministers will specifically focus on enabling measures and the way forward,” he said.
Monyela said the bilateral relations between the two countries were rooted in a history of friendship and solidarity.
They have been formalised through three declarations that defines the strategic nature of those relations.
“The two countries cooperate in a host of regional, continental and global fora, most notable being the BRICS countries (an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), the India-Brazil-South Africa Dialogue Forum (IBSA), and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA),” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
