India, South Africa sign three pacts, back UN reforms

NEW DELHI: India and South Africa Friday signed three agreements, including an air services pact, to ramp up their business ties and agreed to jointly work to reform the UN Security Council.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma held wide-ranging talks on a range of bilateral and global issues including the stepping up of economic ties and closer coordination over global issues.

After the talks, the two sides signed three agreements including a memorandum of understanding(MoU)on agricultural cooperation, an air services pact and an MoU between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Diplomatic Academy of South Africa.

The agreements were signed in the presence of Manmohan Singh and Zuma.

In their interaction with the media, the two leaders stressed on revamping global institutions to reflect contemporary realities and reiterated their support for India and South Africa's candidacy for rotating non-permanent seats in the UN Security Council for 2011-12.

"We will step up our efforts for the reform of global institutions, including that of the UN Security Council," Manmohan Singh said.

"We agreed to support each other's candidatures for the non-permanent seat for the 2011-12 term," he said while describing Zuma's maiden visit to India as "a milestone in India's relations with South Africa".

"We are one on this matter. The world that has changed must be reflected in its institutions," stressed Zuma, who began his three-day visit to India Wednesday.