Issued by: Department of Foreign Affairs
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Aziz Pahad, will lead the South African delegation to the Third Meeting of the South Africa-India Joint Commission to be held on 4 and 5 December 1998 in Pretoria. The Indian Delegation will be led by Mrs Vasundhara Raje, the Minister of State for External Relations of India.
Since the last meeting of the Commission in December 1996 in New Delhi, progress has been made in reinforcing the strategic partnership between South Africa and India, which included the signing of the Red Fort Declaration in March 1997, during President Mandela's state visit to India.
Several Cabinet Ministers and senior Government Officials have also paid reciprocal visits.
Indo-South African bilateral relations are close and the aim of the Joint Commission is to give attention to various issues of bilateral and multilateral cooperation. The Commission will review progress, address outstanding matters and set the pattern for bilateral relations into the next millennium. A bilateral Air Services Agreement will also be signed during the meeting.
On 3 December 1998 the inaugural session of the India-South Africa Commercial Alliance (ISACA) was held in Pretoria today. This brought together representatives of major business organizations and groupings in both countries to further explore economic and trade interaction and cooperation.
India has offered South Africa a number of training slots under its India Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme (ITEC) under which a number of South Africans have been trained in various disciplines. India is also the world's third largest information technology country and offers exciting possibilities for bilateral cooperation in this field. It is expected that Minister Jay Naidoo will sign a a Memorandum of Cooperation on Telecommunications during a visit to India later this month. A media conference will be held at the Diplomatic Guest House, 201 Matroosberg Road, Waterkloof Heights, Pretoria on Saturday, 5 December 1998 at 10h00, following the discussions.
ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS PRETORIA 3 DECEMBER 1998