IBSA goes into high gear

Tuesday, 07 December 2004, 20:30 IST
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NEW DELHI: Foreign ministers of India, Brazil and South Africa will meet in South Africa in March to accelerate trilateral cooperation in areas ranging from aviation to health. The three countries, which launched the IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Dialogue Forum in June 2003, are moving towards strong cooperation in areas as diverse as defence, aviation, health and communications, South African High Commissioner to India M.E. Nkoana Mashabane said. "Our three most dynamic democracies spread over three continents are determined to make sense of South-South cooperation in all fields - political, economic and cultural," Mashabane told IANS. IBSA, formally launched by then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Lula da Silva of South Africa and Brazil respectively during the UN General Assembly in September 2003, is cited as a model for South-South cooperation. The three countries are seen as bellwethers for developing countries in their respective continents with rapidly developing economies and growing global aspirations. The envoy said the three countries, which played a key role in the establishment of the G-20 group of developing countries during last year's Cancun ministerial meet of the WTO and successfully thwarted attempts by developed countries to impose a lopsided trade agreement on the developing world, were focussing on improving "connectivity" among them in different fields. "Connectivity covers aviation to shipping, IT, communications and biotechnology," she said. She said in the field of aviation the three countries were discussing joint production of aircraft, marrying their respective strengths - India's in IT, Brazil's in aircraft manufacture and South Africa's in electronics. Airlines of the three countries have also signed an agreement to have direct flights as part of the move to enhance connectivity, she added. Discussions on defence cooperation are also progressing and the three countries will hold their first joint military exercise in 2005. A decision to this effect was taken during a meeting of the three defence ministers in South Africa earlier this year. The three countries are also moving towards cooperation in the health sector in a big way under which they would collaborate in research and development in the fields of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The envoy said trade between South Africa and India has been growing steadily and crossed the $3 billion mark last year. The Airport Company of South Africa (ACSA) has been short-listed for the modernisation programme of Indian airports, while South African companies were already engaged in a big way in the construction of highways in India, she added.
Source: IANS