South Africa and India enjoy a strategic partnership as established by the Red Fort Declaration of 1997. It is underpinned by a shared history of friendship and solidarity. Both countries held elections this year and President Ramaphosa and Prime Minister Modi both returned to Office after clear victories in May 2019. Over the term of both new administrations, we will be working to further bolster our relations. In doing so, the outcomes of the successful State Visit by President Ramaphosa in January 2019 will provide a good basis for our efforts. Through the implementation of the Three-Year Strategic Programme of Cooperation (2019-2021), which was signed during the aforementioned State Visit, South Africa will work towards enhancing all facets of our strategic relationship. Our primary focus will be to heighten our economic relationship, which has tremendous potential for expansion - with a special focus on attracting FDI from India. This is in line with South Africa's goal to attract $100 billion in investments over the next five years. We will also focus on cooperation in agro-processed goods, defence procurement, mining equipment and technology as well as cooperation in the financial services sector. With our shared history and mutual icons, South Africa will be redoubling her efforts to enhance people-to-people relations, including by increasing tourism flows between our respective countries. This solid bilateral foundation enables us to extend our cooperation into various multilateral fora, such as BRICS, IBSA, IORA, and the G20. Expect the growth curve to head steeply upwards in the next five years...

-H.E. Mr BJ Joubert (Acting High Commissioner of the Republic of South Africa to India)