By IANS
Tuesday October 3, 12:41 AM Pretoria, Oct 2 (IANS) Hardcore diplomacy, goodwill born of a shared heritage
and business too, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh packed it all in Monday - Mahatma Gandhi's 137th birth anniversary - as he wrapped up his South Africa visit with the two countries signing two pacts and deciding to explore ways to collaborate in civilian nuclear energy. 'South Africa and India reaffirm their commitment to a global order of peace, equality and justice,' Manmohan Singh and South African President Thabo Mbeki said in a joint
declaration.The day saw the two leaders meet in this South African legislative capital for talks that lasted for 75 minutes. This followed two days of interaction in Durban in connection with the 100th anniversary of Gandhi launching his satyagraha movement. Manmohan Singh also addressed the third meeting of the India-South Africa CEOs forum, called upon former South African president Nelson Mandela and inaugurated the permanent exhibition on Gandhi at the Constitution Hill prison in Johannesburg where he had been incarcerated four times.The joint declaration signed by Manmohan Singh and Mbeki, called the Tshwane Declaration, covers the substantive ground of the bilateral relations between the two countries - from defence and strategic
cooperation to economic and cultural ties that go back more than a century.The declaration has a significant statement on nuclear cooperation, stating the two countries agreed that nuclear fuel could play an important role in ensuring safe, sustainable and non-polluting sources of energy to meet rising global demands.The declaration expressed deep concern over international terrorism and trans-border crime and said India and South Africa would work towards adopting the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism under the UN.'The ultimate objective is total eradication of this scourge so that barbaric attacks such as the ones carried out on July 11, 2006 in Mumbai and other parts of the world do not recur,' the two leaders said.The two countries signed two pacts - for establishing ties between the Indian Railways and South Africa's Spoornet on training railway personnel and cooperation in education - and agreed to conclude a preferential trade pact at the earliest.While the first pact was signed by chairman of the railway board J.P. Batra, the second was signed in the presence of the media and the two leaders by Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma and South African Education Minister Naledi Pandor.The leaders also categorically said in the statement that they would soon sign two pacts - to exempt visa requirements for officials and diplomats and design a programme of cooperation in science and technology.