India’s success as the 2026 BRICS Chair will depend on its ability to keep the group focused on functional cooperation, including health, climate finance and multilateral reform.
The paradox of South Africa being formally neutral on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, yet parallelly deepening military relationship with Russia, is continuing to strain US–South Africa relations.
South Africa has utilised the opportunity provided by the COVID-19 pandemic to consolidate its regional leadership and augment connections with major external partners like India.
The recent spate of violence in South Africa appears to be rooted in the country’s failure to fully transform itself in the post-apartheid era. If the government fails to effectively address the issue of rising unemployment and widening socio-economic inequality in the country, the violence is likely to recur from time to time.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to India provided an opportunity to honour the contribution of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi and reinvigorate India’s relations with South Africa, a strategic partner and a leading economic power in Africa.
The RSA may be forced to choose between significantly increasing the budgetary allocations for the SAN and adopting a rotational storage programme to preserve capability while reducing operational costs.
The SAN in the post-Apartheid era has been completely transformed from a “brown-water” force of missile craft and short-range submarines to one with considerable “blue-water” capability. However, serious allegations of corruption have marred its procurement processes.
