Pretoria - International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane is in New Delhi, India, where she is participating in the ministerial session of the Third India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III).
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) said the ministerial session will consider two outcomes documents to be adopted at the summit, namely the Delhi Declaration and the India-Africa Framework for Strategic Cooperation.
“The ministerial session will focus on areas critical for Africa's development as enunciated in Agenda 2063 such as trade and economic development, health, education and skills development, agricultural development and peace and security, among others,” Dirco said on Monday.
The ministerial session today precedes the summit, which is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The summit will be attend by Heads of State. It will be held under the theme "Partners in Progress: towards a dynamic and transformative development agenda".
Some 54 African countries are expected to take part in the third India-Africa Forum Summit and over 40 Heads of State or government have already confirmed their participation
President Jacob Zuma, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe are among those who have confirmed their participation.
The summit will, among other things, further deepen the friendship between Africa and India with a view to enhancing a partnership focusing on more concrete and implementable areas of cooperation that will impact positively on the lives of the people of both parties.
The India-Africa Forum Partnership was established in 2008 and remains an important structured African partnership articulated around addressing the challenges faced by the continent and realising transformational socio-economic development in Africa.
The relationship is also important as a positive illustration of the significance of South-South cooperation which remains not only a core principle of South Africa's foreign policy but a fundamental component of international cooperation for development.
India's trade with Africa has increased 20 times in the last 15 years and currently stands at US$70 billion, while India's investment in Africa is about US$35 billion. - SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua
