India is strengthening its reach in Africa as Modi holds talks with leaders from the continent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. | Photo credit: ANI

Months after the India-Africa Forum summit was postponed due to the Ebola crisis, Delhi has launched a wide-ranging dialogue with African countries, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaging several African leaders on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS summit, which concluded on Sunday (September 12, 2026).

Mr Modi hosted Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali on Saturday (September 12, 2026), during which the two leaders discussed regional and global developments, and met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday.

In a meeting between the Prime Ministers of India and Ethiopia, the Ministry of External Affairs said: “The two leaders held discussions aimed at further strengthening the bilateral strategic partnership. They reviewed progress across key sectors, including economic cooperation, defense and security partnership and capacity building.”

In remarks at the BRICS summit, Ethiopia’s prime minister described his country as a pioneer in digital public infrastructure in Africa and urged the world to prepare to deal with “disruption”. He said: “Africa should help build the next generation of AI. This requires research, computing capacity, skills and institutions capable of leading this work.”

Update from the BRICS 2026 Summit on 13 September

Mr. Modi met President Ramaphosa of South Africa on Sunday (September 13, 2026) and reviewed the state of bilateral relations between their two countries. The New Delhi Declaration issued on Saturday (September 12, 2026) took note of the racial injustice that Africans have historically suffered, as well as a Brazil-South Africa plan to launch an “international panel on inequality”. The Declaration also referred to decolonization and Asian-African solidarity as manifested at the Bandung Conference in 1955. In particular, it also referred to the legal process initiated by South Africa at the International Court of Justice against Israel for its military campaign in the Gaza Strip. The New Delhi Declaration acknowledged South Africa’s leadership role in holding Israel accountable and said the meeting “reaffirmed Israel’s legal commitment to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance in Gaza”.

In his discussion with Mr Ramaphosa, Mr Modi reviewed the “multilateral strategic partnership” between India and Africa. “The two leaders exchanged views on a range of global issues of common concern and agreed to maintain close coordination in multilateral fora,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

India-Africa Forum

India has also invited the president of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye, as African Union chairman, to the BRICS summit and Mr Modi hosted him for talks on Sunday (13 September 2026) and discussed the possibility of holding an India-Africa summit “soon”.

A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said both sides recognized that the “India-Africa partnership is a key pillar of cooperation within the Global South”. President Ndayishimiye acknowledged India’s assistance to African health authorities in handling the Ebola crisis and Prime Minister Modi praised Africa’s successful handling of the epidemic. The ministry said “agricultural modernization, health care and capacity building” were discussed during the meeting.

Mr Modi also met dignitaries from Uganda and Nigeria – both invited to the BRICS summit in New Delhi as “partner countries” – on Sunday (September 13, 2026). He met Uganda’s Vice President Jessica Rose Epel Alupo and reaffirmed India’s support for the “Vision 2040” for a prosperous Uganda. The discussion covered technology partnerships, capacity building, investment facilitation and private sector cooperation between the two sides. Mr Modi also met Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima Mustapha and discussed initiatives in trade, defence, agriculture, health and digital technology.

Published – 13 Sep 2026 23:19 IST