PM Modi, South African Prez Ramaphosa hold talks in Johannesburg

Johannesburg, Nov 23 Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of G20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg on Sunday.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (Economic Relations) Sudhakar Dalela and other officials were present at the meeting.

The meeting between President Ramaphosa and PM Modi is expected to not only reflect on the status of the current bilateral relationship but also look at new areas of cooperation in areas like security cooperation, people-to-people contact, etc.

On Saturday, Ramaphosa warmly welcomed PM Modi as he arrived to attend the G20 Leaders' Summit at Nasrec in Johannesburg.

While addressing both sessions of the opening day of the G20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg, PM Modi underlined the need for stronger global cooperation, disaster resilience and sustainable development.

In a series of posts on X, and according to detailed remarks shared by the Prime Minister's Office, PM Modi highlighted India's human-centric approach to growth and urged the grouping to adopt fresh parameters of development that balance progress with planetary well-being.

Taking to X, the Prime Minister said the second session of the Summit focused on building a resilient world in the face of disasters and climate change, ensuring just energy transitions, and strengthening global food systems. "India has been actively working on all these fronts, building a future that is human-centric and inclusive," he wrote.

Reiterating India's long-held view that major global challenges require coordinated global solutions, PM Modi said this conviction had driven India's decision to establish the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group during its G20 Presidency. He added that disaster management must move away from a purely "response-centric" model to a "development-centric" one, citing the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure as an example of this approach.

The Prime Minister also proposed the creation of a G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership, which would make satellite data and analysis from G20 space agencies more accessible to developing countries, especially in the Global South. He stressed that improved access to space-based tools would assist nations in agriculture, fisheries, and disaster management.

Reaffirming India's commitment to sustainability and clean energy, PM Modi said he had put forward a G20 Critical Minerals Circularity Initiative aimed at promoting recycling, urban mining, second-life batteries and related innovations to secure supply chains and pave cleaner development pathways.

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