India and South Africa's relationship is rooted deep in history. Both the countries have gone through ups and downs, hence, it is very important to nurture their relation with warmth and empathy in order to build a strong bonding between the two. In today’s day and age, the link between the two nations has taken a skyward approach, as Prime Minister Modi has visited South Africa twice since the time he came to power in 2014. Furthermore, since the year 2019 marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, President Cyril Ramaphosa has agreed to grace the occasion and be the Chief Guest of the Republic Day Celebrations in New Delhi. He accepted the invitation extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and gave his confirmation during the G20 Summit which was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Initially, it was President Donald Trump (United States of America), who was invited to be the chief guest for the celebration. But due to prior engagements and constraints, he declined the request. Ramaphosa is likely to participate in the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas (PBD) celebration, which will take place in Varanasi this year. PBD is celebrated to exhibit the contribution of Overseas Indian community and celebrate Bapu’s return to India from South Africa.

President Cyril Ramaphosa came to power after Jacob Zuma resigned; ending an era of scandal and misrule. Zuma was ousted on count of racketeering, corruption, money laundering, and was also accused of taking bribes.

India-South Africa relations date back centuries, when India played a vital role in extending its support during the anti-Apartheid movement.  Today, there are around 1.5 million people of Indian origin in South Africa, comprising around three percent of the total population. Moreover in Asia, India is Africa’s sixth largest trading partner, and the trade has grown from US$4.7 billion (2007) to around US$10 billion in 2018 (Rohini Singh 2018).

We share a very warm and cordial relationship with the country bilaterally, also through other international organisations like IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) and BRICS (Brazil Russia, India, China and South Africa). The tenth BRICS summit was held in South Africa in 2018, which was attended by PM Modi where he restated India’s adherence for promoting peace, and bringing in development to the country, by focusing much on the South-South cooperation. Both the leaders also jointly released a stamp honoring the heritage of Gandhi and Mandela. Three Memorandum of Understanding was signed between India and South Africa which are: a) Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes, b) Cooperation in Agricultural Research and Education, and c) Setting up of the "Gandhi Mandela Centre of Specialisation for Artisan Skills” in South Africa (MEA, 2018).

Prior to this, Modi visited South Africa in 2016, where he entered into eight agreements and extended cooperation in the fields of Information Communication Technology, Tourism, Sport, Culture, Grassroots Innovation, Renewable Energy, Audio-Visual and Visa Simplification Procedures.

He termed the nation as the land of Madiba (Nelason Mandela) and the ‘Karambhoomi’ of Mahatma Gandhi. He also addressed the Indian community and said that in the  last ten years, the two way trade between both the nations have grown by 300 percent which is a clearly signifies India’s keen business interest in South Africa.

Areas where both countries have a scope of cooperating includes; minerals and mining, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, high-technology manufacturing; andinformation and communication technology (The Pioneer 2016).

Now, with the interest shown by President Ramaphosa to attend the Republic day celebration there are bright hopes for strengthening our engagement with South Africa.

There is also an opportunity for both the nations to discuss and cooperate in many other areas and sectors. Areas like health, skill development and digital sector are kept in priority by Ramaphosa where he wants to boost relations with India. Also, at present the defence industry of South Africa is flourishing and growing most in the African continent.

Thus, the two sides are enthusiastic to examine partnership in joint production (Dipanjan Roy, 2018). President will also meet the Indian business community in New Delhi in order to discuss, how with the help of South Africa, India can conduct and build up trade relations with other African nations.

We hope, Ramaphosa visit to India turns out to be fruitful for both the nations, further deepening our ties with South Africa – since there is great potential in this partnership, and it’s a great occasion to bind business as well as people to people connection between the two countries.

(The writer is a Associate Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi)