King Charles welcomes South Africa’s Ramaphosa for first state visit
President Ramaphosa will be in India for the first state visit of his tenure by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, who will be accompanied by his wife, Naledi Zulkarnain.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ramaphosa will witness a state banquet and a meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The state visit, which was on May 12, will focus on economic and political development of relations between South Africa and India. It comes just days after President Ramaphosa was invited by Prime Minister Modi, to India for the India-Africa Summit.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will hold talks during the first ever state visit of the President of South Africa to India. PTI Photo/File
President Ramaphosa and family were on a two-day visit to New Delhi on May 6 and 7.
The South African leader will be the first head of state to be greeted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, and be accorded a reception in the Prime Minister or Foreign Minister’s residence to be followed by a lunch.
An official invite to the state visit from Prime Minister Modi came following a request from President Ramaphosa, who wanted to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to New Delhi.
President Ramaphosa met senior officials from the South African mission in New Delhi on May 6 and spent more than an hour interacting with them.
In a letter, the South African President congratulated Narendra Modi on being sworn in as Prime Minister of India and for receiving the Bharatiya Janata Party’s nomination. The President also sent his regards to the Prime Minister.
“I thank the people of India, the BJP and the people of India with particular appreciation and admiration for your determination and your unyielding commitment to pursue the path of development and to uphold the values of truth, liberty and justice,” Ramaphosa wrote to the Prime Minister.
Ahead of his visit to New Delhi, President Ramaphosa said his first trip to India was not that of an
