19 August 2022

“….the Golden age of Indian sport has just begun!” said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Indian Contingent of athletes who had participated in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games. India finished fourth on the medals table. As India concludes its 75th year of Independence from almost 200 years of British colonial rule, it has made remarkable strides and is today one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Celebrating India’s Independence in Pretoria, High Commissioner Jaideep Sarkar quipped at chief guest South African Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa, “we promise to share some of the secrets of the IPL and how to defeat England in upcoming test matches if you promise to teach us Rugby!”

Sarkar said that nothing joins the two people in common celebration as much as their love for sport. “I was delighted earlier this year to join Minister Mthethwa in an event to honour 30 years of South Africa's re-admission to the cricketing world. It was back in 1992 when a hundred thousand spectators in the Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta cheered Clive Rice and
his men as they came out to play the Indian cricket team.”

In August South Africa celebrates Women’s Month and Mthethwa commended Banyana Banyana, South Africa’s women’s soccer team on winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. South Africans embraced the team as the ‘Queens of Africa’ and many celebrations were held in their honour.

Expounding on the commonalities between the countries Sarkar said that as major emerging economies, India and South Africa are elevating their economic partnership. Around 150 Indian companies have invested in South Africa in a wide range of sectors bringing critical skills, employment and business. The median age of the population in both India and South Africa is below 30. The emphasis in South Africa on the 4th Industrial Revolution connects with India's aspirations to build a world class digital economy and IT enabled governance. “We need to connect Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban with Bengaluru, Pune and Gurugram. And the South African Indian community has an important role to play in building these bridges of connectivity.”

“We used to think that the vast Indian Ocean separates India and Africa. But in recent years we have come to see the opportunities that lie in the maritime domain. That is the thinking behind the Indian Ocean Rim Association of which our two countries are members. We are working together to harness the potential of the seas in connecting us and building a maritime economy centered around tourism, disaster and water management and fisheries to name a few areas.

“Just as South Africa's Green Transition is underway, India too is making rapid strides in this area. In the last seven years, the share of renewable energy in our total power generation has increased from 16% to 40%. India's goal is to generate 500 GW of power from non-fossil sources by 2030, which will represent half of the total power generated in the country. In particular, solar energy has developed very rapidly in the last few years and India is one of the founders along with France of the International Solar Alliance that works as a collaborative platform for increased deployment of solar energy technologies as a means for bringing energy access, ensuring energy security, and driving energy transition in its member countries,” said Sarkar.

"The way the world is seeing India is changing. There is hope from India and the reason is the skills of 1.3 billion Indians," Modi said. "The diversity of India is our strength. Being the mother of democracy gives India the inherent power to scale new heights."

At independence, Britain left India poverty stricken and in chaos, reeling from a bloody partition that killed over a million people and displaced over 15 million. Fast forward to 75 years later and India's nearly $3 trillion economy is now the world's fifth largest and among its fastest growing. Modi’s vision of making India self-reliant is being realised and by 2047, at India's 100th year of independence, Modi set an ambitious target of making India a developed nation.

Anisha Pemjee