ABSTRACT

In 1993 Pik Botha, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, identified the IOR as an area of great mutual interest to South Africa and India. The concept was formalized in March 1995 when seven ‘core’ IOR countries (South Africa, India, Australia, Singapore, Mauritius, Oman and Kenya) agreed to initiate negotiations towards the formation of an IOR association for economic development. Further discussions were held in Perth in June 1995 and later in Mauritius in August 1995. However, domestically, South Africa’s membership of the IOR is hotly contested for two reasons: first, it has not been proven that the IOR will benefit South Africa economically; second, IOR membership would not cohere with South Africa’s foreign policy commitments to the southern African region and its institutions and to negotiations with the EU for an asymmetrical Free Trade Area. As South Africa’s regional commitments are seen as an integral part of her national policy, any analysis of the costs and benefits of joining the IOR would have to factor in the southern African region.