During the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa made a remark that caused laughter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. This incident occurred at the BRICS Summit 2023.
At the summit, President Ramaphosa spoke about India's conservation efforts regarding large predators. During his speech, he addressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying: 'If you need more cheetahs, then you are in the home of cheetahs.'
Following this statement, Prime Minister Modi and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar laughed loudly, filling the entire atmosphere of the event with cheer. President Ramaphosa also thanked India for its care of large predators, noting that South Africa is ready to provide cheetahs since India takes good care of them.
He continued by saying: 'If you need more cheetahs, then you have come to the home of cheetahs.' Within the framework of this summit, Prime Minister Modi called on BRICS countries to make joint efforts under the International Alliance for the Conservation of Large Carnivores, emphasizing that various species of large carnivores inhabit all BRICS countries and can be conserved together.
It is worth noting that the cheetah reintroduction project in India started in 2022. Eight cheetahs were brought to Kuno National Park (Madhya Pradesh) from Namibia and 20 from South Africa. Although some died, many managed to give birth to cubs.
According to an agreement between India and South Africa, South Africa will provide twelve cheetahs to India annually for the next ten years.