PUTIN MEETS S. AFRICA'S RAMAPHOSA IN INDIA. (PHOTO).

 

Putin meets S. Africa's Ramaphosa in India

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, at the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in India on Friday.

The two leaders will discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of international significance.

President Cyril Ramaphosa called on BRICS governments and business communities to use the grouping as a platform to deepen investment and trade, reshape existing economic patterns and transform the economies of countries across the Global South.

“We cannot accept a future where Africa supplies the minerals on which the next generation of industries depends, while value addition and manufacturing take place elsewhere.

“If we are to change where value is created, we must also change where investment is directed. We must direct investment towards manufacturing and beneficiation, industrial technologies, energy systems, infrastructure and logistics,” Ramaphosa said.

At the event, the Russian leader accused Western countries of using "all means" to regain their "lost" global leadership.

"The West, trying to maintain leadership, is trying to directly and aggressively affect logistics, destroy infrastructure, and seize ships," Putin said at the BRICS summit in New Delhi and declared that the global economy has changed, as the "old leaders" have been replaced by "new locomotives of development."

Additionally, the Russian president noted that BRICS countries account for half of global economic growth and warned that sanctions will lead to recession. He also stated that BRICS "does not want to withdraw into itself" and is prepared to collaborate "profitably with the whole world."

This year's BRICS meeting is set to close on Sunday, September 13.