(MENAFN- IANS) Johannesburg, Nov 21 (IANS) The Global South agenda and issues being faced by developing nations would be at the forefront of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's discussions at the G20 Leaders' Summit which will begin in Johannesburg under South Africa's presidency on Saturday.

In an interview with the IANS, India's High Commissioner to South Africa, Prabhat Kumar, recalled that India, during its G20 Presidency in 2023, had highlighted the issues of Global South - such as disaster resilience, digital public infrastructure, women empowerment - which would also remain at the forefront during the Johannesburg G20 Summit.

"You will recall that during Delhi summit, we focused on issues of the Global South such as disaster resilience, digital public infrastructure, women empowerment and food security. These issues will remain at the forefront at the G20 Summit. South Africa has also taken them forward and therefore in the document there are good paragraphs on these issues and obviously Prime Minister will speak on them as well," Kumar told IANS.

India held G20 Presidency from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023. The 18th G20 Leaders' Summit was held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from September 9-10, 2023 under India's maiden G20 Presidency.

The Johannesburg Summit is the fourth consecutive G20 Summit being held in the Global South and the first to take place on African soil.

"The issues of Global South will be the main focus of the Summit as this is the last summit led by a Global South country. After Indonesia, Brazil and India, South Africa is leading this. So, Global South agenda has come at the forefront and their issues, the issues of disaster resilience, public infrastructure, digital public infrastructure and others such as food security will remain at the forefront and India will focus on those."

Ambassador Kumar stated that trade ties between India and South Africa are balanced and added that it has increased over the past five years. He said that the two nations have a bilateral trade of around USD 18-19 billion.

When asked about the new opportunities emerging in India-South Africa trade ties, Kumar responded, "India-South Africa trade relations are doing well. We have around USD 18 to USD 19 billion of bilateral trade. It is balanced and has grown over the last five years, doubled actually, and we see that there are new opportunities as well in trade and investment. South Africa is focusing on infrastructure and there is lot of opportunity in infrastructure such as railways, ports, and electricity. And we see that there is some interaction going on between Indian companies and South African government and companies and there are likely to be collaboration in these areas in South Africa."

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