South Africa to Exhibit Khadi in Textile Event as Tribute to Gandhi and Mandela

The Indian fabric Khadi associated with the Indian freedom movement will be exhibited in South Africa at an event meant to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela on April 30. The Tribute to Mahatma and Madiba program will be held on April 30 during the concluding session of India-South Africa Business Summit–on April 29 and 30 at the Sandton Convention Centre in South Africa.

The event will be choreographed by a South African fashion designer. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has received its first foreign order worth Rs 2 lakh consisting 175 gift boxes that has silk scarves. The KVIC Chairman V K Saxena said that Khadi reaching South Africa means that world is moving in the direction of economic freedom, PTI reported.

“The monetary value of this order might not be very big, but it is a big morale gain for KVIC as it has caught the attention of the world-famous fashion designer Gavin Rajah and the organizers as well,” Saxena said, as per the report. He added that when Mahatma Gandhi reached South Africa, a war against apartheid and British rule was started. “Now, much on the expectations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Khadi is all set to bring economic freedom as the ‘Ahimsa Silk’ would showcase its piousness and economic feasibility in the land of Madiba (Nelson Mandela),” Saxena pointed out.

The Khadi fabric is closely linked to Gandhi as he promoted Khadi, handspun fabric, as a means of self-governance during the independence movement. The Swadeshi movement that was started by Gandhi during the freedom movement of India urged people to boycott English products.

The tagline for India-South Africa Business Summit’s is ‘united by legacy, unified for prosperity. It seeks to portray New India in South Africa, with the intent to double the number of two-way bilateral trade and investment within a span of five years.

“There will be very important meetings between our trade ministers and the India-South Africa CEOs’ Forum, with core captains of industry from India and South Africa discussing issues that vex or are perhaps irritants in this relationship and how we can take the relationship further,” Indian High Commissioner Ruchira Kamboj said, according to the report.

“This is the first such Business Summit ever to held in South Africa or in India. The entire focus is to maximize the potential of the economic relationship and to double trade figures from now to 2021,” Kamboj said.

Kamboj added that trade figures between the two countries stand roughly at USD 10 billion. “We are confident that there is potential to double this figure. There are many sectors that our countries can cooperate in,” she said.