Modi sells the India Dream in South Africa: H.O.P.E Unbound
Mahatma and Madiba. Interlinked dreams of India and Africa. Rise of India. Resilience and Resurgence. These were key theme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stirring address to ain South Africa on July 1. Sporting a Madiba shirt, Mr Modi enthralled nearly 11,000 PIOs with his resonant vision of a new India and cited myriad cultural and historical links that bind India and South Africa.
Here are some quotable quotes from PM Modi’s speech that encapsulate his views on the transformation of India, the bright future of India-Africa relations and the pivotal place of the Indian diaspora in India’s resurgence.
NSG support, stronger defence ties signal a new era in India-South Africa ties
Ending weeks of speculation, South Africa has declared support for India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a key takeaway for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Africa’s economic powerhouse.
Getting the support of South Africa, a non-proliferation hawk which renounced its nuclear programme decades ago, was on top of Modi’s agenda in Pretoria.
Modi’s wide-ranging talks with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma on July 9 firmed up a substantive agenda for galvanising India-South Africa relationship across the spectrum, with special focus on collaboration in defence, value-added manufacturing and information technology. Taking a long-range view of strategic partnership, Zuma ended ambivalence by conveying his country’s support for India’s entry into the NSG, which will enable greater access for India to civil nuclear technologies.
BJP unbound? Moving beyond number game in assembly elections
In politics, it’s necessary to sift myths from realities. Undoubtedly, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s spectacular victory in Assam assembly elections has helped the cadres and leaders to forget its losses in Delhi and Bihar in 2015, but a close look at its performance in Kerala, Assam and West Bengal along with Puducherry presents another picture. […]