SOUTH Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor on Monday defended her country’s decision to hold a joint naval exercise with Russia and China next month off its east coast.
“All countries conduct military exercises with friends worldwide, so there should be no compulsion on any country that they should not conduct them with any other partner. It’s part of a natural course of relationships between countries,” Pandor said in a joint media briefing alongside her visiting Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, who is in the country for bilateral talks.
She said African nations needed to resist being held to a double standard by other countries that say “what I do is ok for me, but you can’t do it because you are a developing country, or you are Africa.”
“That is an abuse of international practice,” she added.
Days before Lavrov’s arrival, South Africa announced that it would hold joint naval exercises
You’ve reached your free article limit
Subscribe to enjoy unlimited access to trusted journalism. Cancel anytime.
Subscribe nowNeed help? molokom@insidepolitic.co.za
