India, South Africa ink four pacts to take partnership in progress forward

Pretoria (South Africa), July 8 (ANI): India and South Africa on Friday inked three Memoranda of Understanding and one Programme of Cooperation to take their "partnership in progress" one more step forward. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted "India-South Africa: Partners in Progress - The two countries announce MoUs/Programme in four areas of cooperation". The three Memoranda of Understanding are in the fields of ICT (Information and Communications Technology); Tourism and Grassroots Innovation in Science and Technology (S & T). A Programme of Cooperation in Arts and Culture was the fourth bilateral agreement side between the two sides after delegation-level talks held in the presidential boardroom at the Union Building in Pretoria. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a ceremonial welcome at the Union Building of Pretoria, which was followed by one-on-one private conversation with President Jacob Zuma and delegation-level talks. The Prime Minister is presently attending a lunch organized in his honour by President Zuma and is scheduled to have meetings with South African leaders thereafter. Among those he will meet are South Africa's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. In the evening, he will visit the Nelson Mandela Foundation, participate in the India-South Africa Business Meet and address an Indian community programme. Prime Minister Modi arrived here on Thursday evening on the second leg of his four-nation five-day tour to the African continent with an aim to enhance mutual cooperation and understanding on major issues of common interest. South Africa Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Nkoana-Mashabane and Minister for Small Business Lindiwe Zulu welcomed the Prime Minister at the Waterkloof Air Force Base. Thereafter, he will depart for Johannesburg. The Prime Minister is also expected to visit Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Pietermaritzburg is the place where Mahatma Gandhi was thrown out of the train compartment. South Africa and India also cooperate and work closely with each other in multilateral fora like BRICS, IBSA, G20 and BASIC.(ANI)