SOUTH AFRICA: India and South Africa should work together in the future

Record ID: 453080

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: India and South Africa should work together in the future
  • Date: 3rd October 2006
  • Summary: WIDE OF PRESSER WITH MBEKI AND SINGH ADDRESSING (SOUNDBITE)(English) INDIA PRIME MINISTER MANMOHAN SINGH SAYING: "President Mbeki and I have had very fruitful discussions this morning continuing upon our meeting in Brasilia and in Havana last month." (SOUNDBITE)(English) S.AFRICAN PRESIDENT THABO MBEKI SAYING: "We have reflected with the Prime Minister on the issue of relations between the two countries and reaffirmed in very strong terms the strategic partnership between India and South Africa. It's born of a long history of friendship, a very warm feeling of friendship, of support of solidarity of togetherness between the two countries and the two and the two peoples." WIDE OF PRESSER WITH MBEKI AND SINGH ADDRESSING
  • Embargoed: 18th October 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA4WHO8XHO9D5368Z4HT12QOJCS
  • Story Text: The leaders of South Africa and India renewed their commitment on Monday to push for expansion of the United Nations Security Council to include more developing nations from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
    Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on a trip to South Africa to boost ties between the two countries, said he supported Pretoria's bid to have a permanent seat on that expanded body.
    South Africa, by virtue of its standing and its role in Africa and internationally, is entitled to take its place Singh said at a joint briefing with President Thabo Mbeki.
    He was speaking in the capital Pretoria after the signing of an agreement to cement partnerships between the two emerging market giants in areas including science and technology, bilateral trade, education and cross skills training.
    Mbeki said that restructuring of the Security Council was one of the issues that India and South Africa had in common.
    The council has 15 seats including five permanent members -- France, China, Russia, United States and Britain. The African Union wants the council to be enlarged to 26 seats, including six new permanent seats with veto rights, two of which would go to Africa.
    India has been campaigning with Germany, Japan and Brazil for permanent status on the council, and has actively sought South African support for its bid.
    Mbeki repeated South Africa's support in principle for India's plans to expand its nuclear power for peaceful purposes but said no agreements between the two countries had been sealed on that issue.
    Greater cooperation in the area of civilian nuclear energy was expected to be a part of discussions between the two leaders on Monday, along with trade.
    India is keen to find additional sources of uranium to power its nuclear reactors. South Africa by some estimates accounts for about 10 percent of the world's reserves of the mineral.
    South Africa wants to treble two-way trade with India to $12 billion by 2010, Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said on a recent trip there.
    Singh later met anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register