New Delhi: The next South African High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, is expected to take charge of the High Commission in New Delhi within the next 45-60 days, ThePrint has learnt.
Sooklal is the first person of Indian origin to be appointed South Africa’s envoy to India since the two countries established full diplomatic ties in 1993 as the apartheid regime came to an end. The high commissioner-designate has a doctorate in oriental history from the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) as well as another in religious studies from the same university.
The previous High Commissioner, Sibusiso Ndebele, returned to South Africa at the end of 2023, and the post has been vacant since then. Sooklal’s appointment was signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa and announced on 30 June 2024, local media reported.
People familiar with the matter told ThePrint that the process is underway for completing all the formalities required before the new high commissioner can officially take charge here in New Delhi.
Sooklal’s appointment comes at a time when New Delhi is attempting to expand its footprint in Africa. The fourth India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS) is expected to be held later this year, likely in Ethiopia, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
South Africa was India’s 18th largest trading partner in goods in the financial year 2023-24 with trade touching $19.25 billion, according to data published by the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The country is India’s largest trading partner in Africa, followed by Tanzania and Nigeria.
The total trade between the two countries is more than the total value of trade between India and the next three African countries combined. Furthermore, people of Indian origin make up about 3 percent of South Africa’s total population. Many Indian families in South Africa are descendents of indentured labour taken by the British to the country in the late nineteenth century.
In 2019, the Government of India conferred Sooklal with the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA) — the highest award given to overseas Indians — for his significant contribution towards the field of diplomacy.
In December 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an executive order conferring Sooklal with the Order of Friendship, for his “substantial contribution” to strengthening the ties between Russia and South Africa.
Sooklal has been a government servant since 1995 following an academic career at both the UKZN and the University of South Africa (UNISA). Prior to his new appointment, he was the ambassador at large to Asia and the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
Between 1998 and 1999, he was a counsellor at the High Commission in New Delhi. Between 2006 and 2012, he was South Africa’s ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.
He also served in the Permanent Mission of South Africa to the United Nations in Geneva and also as the country’s Sherpa for BRICS, IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa) and as the focal point for the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORA).
South Africa chaired the BRICS organisation last year, with the leaders’ summit held in August 2023 in Johannesburg. Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the summit.
(Edited by Rohan Manoj)
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