South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India’s hearty support in hosting the G20 leaders' summit in South Africa. In a lighter vein, during delegation level talks, Ramaphosa said he wished Modi had shared with him that hosting the G 20 summit was quote “such a difficult task, and maybe we would have run away ” end quote.  Ramaphosa said his country learnt a lot from India about hosting the G20 adding that the summit in New Delhi in September 2023 was “spectacular... ours is really small” end quote. Modi quipped back quote "Small is always beautiful" end quote.

The warm welcome by the South African President to Indian Prime Minister at the Summit, and the camaraderie at their bilateral talks highlighted their bonhomie.  

It was the first time that South Africa hosted the G20 Summit, marking the most powerful global leaders’ first gathering in Africa. The G 20 presidency now moves on to the United States. During the bilateral discussions on the sidelines of the G 20 summit, Ramaphosa and Modi hailed cooperation in various areas, including trade, investment, mining, critical minerals, AI and food security.