New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar held a meeting with his South African counterpart Ronald Lamola in New Delhi on Wednesday, discussing various aspects of strategic partnership and multilateral issues of mutual interest.

“Glad to meet FM Ronald Lamola of South Africa this evening. Reviewed different aspects of our Strategic Partnership. Also discussed multilateral issues of mutual interest. Agreed on the need to intensify our interactions through institutional mechanisms,” EAM Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.

Lamola thanked India for its efforts in promoting international discourse on topical and forward-looking issues by hosting BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. He expressed South Africa’s commitment to strengthening ties with India on a bilateral level.

“Thank you Minister S Jaishankar and the Government of India for hosting the South African delegation and for India’s efforts to promote international discourse on topical and forward-looking issues by hosting the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting,” Lamola wrote on X.

“South Africa and India have enjoyed close and meaningful relations since the establishment of Diplomatic Relations over 30-years ago and that the relationship is one of significance to South Africa. We are committed to deepening and strengthening ties with India on a bilateral level, and to ensure that the relationship with India reaches its full potential, for the benefit of both populations,” he added.

EAM Jaishankar will chair the BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting on May 14-15, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had announced on Tuesday.

India holds the BRICS chair in 2026 guided by the theme of ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, reflecting a people-centric and humanity-first approach articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 2025.

BRIC was formalised at the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in 2006. The inaugural BRIC Summit was convened in Russia’s Yekaterinburg in 2009. It was agreed to expand BRIC into BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in 2010. South Africa attended the third BRICS Summit in 2011.

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE became full member of BRICS from January 2024 and Indonesia in January 2025. Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam joined BRICS as Partner Countries in 2025.

–IANS

akl/as