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On behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, His Excellency President Jacob Zuma has today, 23 July 2012, congratulated Mr Pranab Mukherjee, the former Minister of Finance of India, on being elected as the 13th President of the Republic of India.

President Zuma said: "India is a strategic partner of South Africa, and the objective of the bilateral relationship is to continue to foster goodwill and sound relations across a broad spectrum".

In this regard, President Zuma said South Africa will also explore new opportunities in both the bilateral and multilateral environments to engage India in an evolving global environment.
As strategic partners, South Africa and India have laid a solid foundation and created a platform for cooperating in various forums, namely, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa), BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) a climate change-specific forum), the G-20 and the India-Africa Forum, all of which reinforce the strong bilateral relationship between the two countries.

President Zuma concluded that: "South Africa wishes to convey its sincerest congratulations to President-elect Mukherjee and welcomes the opportunity to continue to engage India at the highest level."