Former South African President Nelson Mandela's warm association with India is being recalled by the state-run broadcaster
DURBAN: Former South African President Nelson Mandela's warm association with India is being recalled by the state-run broadcaster, which has relayed past reports featuring the leader ahead of his 90th birth anniversary.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation has, over the past two days, broadcast two radio reports, in which the anti-apartheid leader refers to India and its independence struggle as a source of inspiration for his country.
In the first report Mandela, who turns 90 on July 18, is heard replying to a question by a foreign correspondent, asking which country he would like to visit first, soon after his release in February 1990.
"There is no doubt that my first preference would be India because of the close ties between the ANC (African National Congress) and the Indian Government. However, my life is in the hands of my organisation."
"The fact that Nehru, Gandhi and other leaders were in and out of prison encouraged us a great deal in our struggles", Mandela said on the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru on him.
The second radio report pertains to his official visit to India in January 1995, six months after being elected the first president of a democratic South Africa.
The report details Mandela's visit, including his talks with former Indian premier P V Narsimha Rao and his visit to Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and birthplace in Gujarat.
The report highlighted Mandela's interaction with a group of school children in New Delhi who sang songs in Zulu and English for Mandela and Ahmad Kathrada, Mandela's mate of 25 years from Robben Island prison.
Mandela, surprised at hearing songs in Zulu language was heard saying, "For a moment I thought I was back home in Soweto."
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