PM Modi holds talks with SA President Ramaphosa, discusses cooperation in trade, critical minerals
Johannesburg (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the G20 Summit here and the two leaders discussed cooperation in various areas, including trade, investment, mining, critical minerals, AI and food security.
“PM @narendramodi held a warm and productive meeting with President @CyrilRamaphosa of South Africa,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on social media after the meeting.
He said the discussions focused on further cooperation in trade, investment, mining, critical minerals, AI, Digital Public Infrastructure, skill development and food security.
"The leaders discussed initiating exchange of youth delegations for enhancing technology and people to people ties,” Jaiswal added.
Modi also congratulated the South African leader on the successful presidency of the G20 summit this year.
“PM congratulated President Ramaphosa & South Africa for the successful presidency of @G20,” Jaiswal added.
South Africa is hosting the first G20 Summit being held in Africa. The African Union became a member of the G20 during India’s presidency in 2023.
This is PM Modi's fourth official visit to South Africa, following his bilateral visit in 2016 and later for the two BRICS summits in 2018 and 2023.
South Africa is the largest trading partner of India in the African region. Bilateral trade between India and South Africa stood at USD 19.25 billion in 2023-24.
Indian businesses have invested over USD 1.3 billion in South Africa from April 2000 to September 2024. These investments traverse diverse sectors, encompassing pharmaceuticals, IT, automotive, banking, and mining.
On Saturday, upon reaching the G20 Summit venue in Johannesburg, Modi thanked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa “for the warm welcome and for organising this important Summit”.
Addressing the opening session of the G20 Leaders’ Meeting, Modi called for a profound rethink of global development parameters and proposed the establishment of a G20 initiative to counter the drug-terror nexus and a global healthcare response team.
Modi is visiting Johannesburg from November 21 to 23 to attend the 20th G20 Leaders' Summit.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
