Your 'Mahatma' is our 'Mahatama' said His Excellency, Cedric Crowley, Dy High Commissioner, South Africa while addressing an Interactive Session held on Thursday evening at The Federation of Telangana Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Red Hills. Obviously, he was referring to the Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi. You gave us a Barrister, we gave you Mahatma Gandhi, he said.
He was addressing a select gathering at the Interactive session on "Trade and Investment Opportunities with South Africa". Accompanied by Mr. Khathutshelo Thagwana, First Secretary, Political he said our bilateral relationship is historical. It dates back many years. He began his address by saying 'Namaskar' and wished the audience 'Happy Ugadi'. It connected him to the audience instantly.
My visit is significant to restarting our relationship. Let us explore each other's potential for the common good. The relationship must be a win-win for both countries. We have natural beauty and you have natural talent. We have some commonalities. We can't compete with you. But, there is one Elan Musk, who was born in Pretoria, South Africa, and briefly attended the University of Pretoria before moving to Canada.
We can explore collaboration in Defence, Art and Culture, Agriculture and many such areas, he said. Hyderabad is good at ICT (Information, Communications Technology). Let us collaborate and develop. You have surpassed Silicon Valley. You gave the world zero, which made computing possible. What you invested is coming back to you, he said.
He appreciated the way the world is watching India's UPI (Unified Payment Interface).
Mr. AVPS Vhakaravarthy, Chair International Relations Committee said India exports Vehicles, Mineral Fuels, Iron and Steel, Plastics and many others to South Africa. India imports from South Africa stood at US $ 10.9 billion in FY 2021-22. India exported 4,873 commodities to South Africa in the year 2021-2022, he added.
His Excellency Cedric Crowley thanked India for vaccines. We are one of the beneficiaries along with many African Countries .