SA and India deepen science ties, building on 150+ joint research projects

South Africa and India have agreed to deepen their cooperation in science, technology and innovation.

Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Nomalungelo Gina, met with India's Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, in Hyderabad today. The two reaffirmed their commitment to work more closely together.

Part of a bigger visit

The meeting happened on the sidelines of Deputy President Paul Mashatile's six-day Working Visit to India. The visit began on Friday, 29 May, in New Delhi. It forms part of South Africa's wider plan to build stronger ties with India in trade, investment, healthcare, digital innovation and science.

A long-standing partnership

India is a long-standing science partner for South Africa. Their cooperation is built on the 1995 Agreement on Science and Technology and has grown through several joint programmes since then.

Both countries agreed that working together can help deliver South Africa's Science, Technology and Innovation Decadal Plan 2022–2032. The focus areas include the digital economy, advanced manufacturing, health and energy.

What the partnership covers

The partnership covers a wide range of fields. These include biotechnology, renewable energy, hydrogen technologies, digital innovation and astronomy. Universities, funding agencies and research institutions in both countries are working more closely to support this.

Results so far

The results so far are significant. Since 2001, the programme has funded more than 150 joint research projects. India has also helped build the Square Kilometre Array through work on software, data-heavy astronomy and high-performance computing.

This week's meeting built on the 14th India-South Africa Joint Committee Meeting on Science and Technology, held on 29 July 2025. The two sides confirmed they would keep working together on quantum technologies, supercomputing, geospatial sciences, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing and large science projects.

New workshops planned

A key outcome was an agreement to hold three technical workshops. These will cover advanced materials and manufacturing, geospatial technologies, and digital infrastructure.

Gina said the partnership shows the value of trusted cooperation between Global South partners.

"Our discussions reaffirmed a shared commitment to deepen collaboration in strategic areas such as digital innovation, advanced manufacturing, geospatial sciences and biotechnology, so that our partnership can deliver practical benefits for our people and support inclusive, sustainable development,"Gina said.

She also invited India to take part in Science Forum South Africa 2026. The forum will be held at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Pretoria from 2 to 4 December 2026.