Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew into Johannesburg on Sunday for the India‑Brazil‑South Africa (IBSA) Leaders’ Meeting, a gathering that brings together three large democracies from different continents to discuss how they can cooperate and show solidarity with other Global South nations.
In attendance were Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. South Africa, which is currently chairing IBSA, plays a key role in a forum that unites India, Brazil, and South Africa around shared challenges and opportunities.
IBSA officially took shape when the foreign ministers of the three countries met in Brasília on 6 June 2023 and inked the Brasília Declaration, giving the group its name and formal purpose.
During a media briefing on November 20, Sudhakar Dalela, Secretary (Economic Relations) at the Ministry of External Affairs, explained the three pillars that define IBSA’s cooperation. He said, “As all of you know, India, Brazil, and South Africa are three democracies from three continents, all from the Global South. And we have a very unique forum of coordinating among ourselves around three pillars of cooperation, I would say. One is the political coordination. The second is trilateral cooperation that we do, including people‑to‑people contact. And thirdly, what we do collectively as IBSA for countries in the Global South, particularly on the aspect of food and hunger through the IBSA fund.”
Dalela went on to add that the coming meeting—though brief and held on the sidelines of a larger summit—will focus on reviewing progress under those three pillars, reminding listeners that in September of the same year, IBSA foreign ministers had met during the UN General Assembly and issued a joint statement on common themes.
During the same weekend, Modi also met with Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg. A video posted on X showed the leaders greeting each other warmly before hurrying into a bilateral conversation.
The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Sudhakar Dalela, and several other officials. South Africa’s Presidency posted a separate video on X, stating, “His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa is in a bilateral meeting with His Excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India on the margins of the Group of Twenty (G20) Leaders’ Summit hosted by South Africa. Johannesburg EXPO Centre, Gauteng.”
They also highlighted that the discussion aimed to strengthen bilateral ties across trade, industrialisation, education, ICT, and infrastructure.
Earlier that week, Ramaphosa greeted Modi as he arrived at the G20 Leaders’ Summit hosted at Nasrec in Johannesburg. Throughout the opening day, Modi urged stronger global cooperation, greater resilience to disasters, and sustainable development.
In a series of X posts and detailed statements from the Prime Minister’s Office, Modi stressed India’s human‑centric growth ethos, calling for a new development framework that balances progress with planetary wellbeing. Reflecting on the second session of the summit, he noted a focus on resilience in the face of climate change, 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.
Reaffirming India’s long‑standing stance that pressing global issues demand coordinated solutions, Modi highlighted the country’s decision to launch a Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group during its G20 presidency. He argued that disaster management must shift from a purely “response‑centric” model to a “development‑centric” one, citing the Coalition for Disaster‑Resilient Infrastructure as an example.
The Prime Minister also proposed a G20 Open Satellite Data Partnership to widen access to satellite data and analysis from G20 space agencies, especially for developing nations in the Global South. He stressed that improved space‑based tools would support agriculture, fisheries, and disaster management efforts.
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