Breaking protocol, South Africa President calls on Sonia Gandhi

Breaking protocol, South African President Jacob Zuma called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence in Delhi on Thursday. He left the summit venue and went straight to 10 Janpath, against diplomatic customs, wherein normally prime ministers, ministers and opposition leaders call on presidents and not the other way round.

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma were also present during the meeting, said a Congress release.

The meeting attained significance amidst Congress boycotting the special dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the African. But on Thursday its leaders attended the official banquet hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee. Congress leaders said the boycott was to register protest at government's attempts to erase contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru as the architect of India-Africa relations from official books and releases.

During the summit, President of Zimbabawe Robert Mughabe, South African President Jacob Zuma and President of Ghana John Damani Mahama mentioned contributions of Nehru and Indira Gandhi in reaching out to Africa and helping their fight against colonialism and apartheid. Earlier, Congress vice President Rahul Gandhi and spokesman Anand Sharma had called on President of Namibia Dr Hage G Geingob.