South African President Cyril Ramaphosa lauded India's 'very successful' BRICS chairmanship, praising its organisational skills and effective leadership in bringing member countries together to adopt the consensus-based New Delhi Declaration.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday praised India’s leadership as BRICS chair, saying New Delhi hosted a “very successful” summit and managed to bring member countries together to adopt the New Delhi Declaration despite doubts over reaching consensus.

Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, Ramaphosa said the successful adoption of the declaration was a result of collective efforts by all BRICS members, while congratulating India for its organisation and leadership.

'A Very Successful BRICS Summit'

“In this BRICS Summit, we were able to adopt a declaration when many thought that we would not succeed in adopting a declaration. We did. In that regard, we congratulate all BRICS members, but also especially India for hosting a very successful BRICS Summit,” Ramaphosa said.

He praised India’s arrangements for the summit and highlighted the scale of events organised during the two-day gathering. “Everything was so well-arranged; they were able to lead us in holding 350 meetings or so in 30 cities. That takes a lot of doing by any host of a huge Summit like this,” he said.

'India Was the Focal Point'

Earlier, responding to ANI’s question on how India brought BRICS members together for the New Delhi Declaration, Ramaphosa said India provided effective leadership throughout the process. “What India has done well was to organise an extremely well-organised summit. Organising summits is always a touch-and-go type of process. There are many things that could go wrong; nothing went wrong. So we congratulate India for doing so,” he said.

He added that the host country plays an important role in guiding discussions and helping members reach decisions. “When a host convenes a summit, they take the reins of leadership. They direct the discussions, and they also cajole everyone towards a decision. So that's what India has done extremely well,” Ramaphosa said.

“Whilst all countries have to cooperate and reach consensus, they need a focal point, and India was the focal point and the lead, bringing light to all this. So we really congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all his various ministers; they have done extremely well,” he added.

Bilateral Meeting with PM Modi

On his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit, Ramaphosa said the two leaders discussed the special and strategic relationship between India and South Africa. “In our bilateral with Prime Minister, we reflected on the relationship between South Africa and India and did say that it is a special and strategic relationship,” he said.

Strengthening Strategic Partnership

Ramaphosa recalled the signing of the strategic partnership between the two countries in 1997 during former South African President Nelson Mandela’s visit to India and said the nations would mark 30 years of the relationship next year. “The relationship really got seriously underway in 1997 when President Mandela was here. We signed a strategic agreement. They call it the Red Fort Declaration in 1997. Prime Minister Modi commented that we'll be celebrating 30 years of this strategic relationship, and I promptly invited him to come to South Africa next year so that we can together celebrate the strategic partnership between South Africa and India,” he said.

He said the two leaders also discussed trade, investment and ways to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries. “We touched on trade issues, investment issues, and how we can deepen our relationship at an economic level,” Ramaphosa said.

Praise for India's Achievements

The South African President also praised India’s achievements in space exploration, technology and agriculture, saying the country has shown leadership among developing economies. “India, in the developing economy world, apart from China, is showing leadership, and we can see that the two countries are giving great leadership also in a number of areas,” he said.

“Technologically, you can see that India is moving ahead, doing many strides in agriculture. They have empowered a lot of small-scale farmers, women especially. And there's a lot that we can learn from them,” he added.

“So, it was a very good bilateral, very relaxed and very purposeful as well,” Ramaphosa said.

New Delhi Declaration Adopted

BRICS leaders on Saturday unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration, which stressed the importance of building reliable, responsible and resilient supply chains for critical minerals and highlighted the need for sustainable and fair resource management. The summit was hosted by India under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”. (ANI)

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