New Delhi | India and Namibia on Friday discussed ways to deepen ties in cheetah conservation and wetland protection.

Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav met his Namibian counterpart Indileni Daniel on the sidelines of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

"We discussed the longstanding friendship and strong environmental partnership between India and Namibia, built on mutual respect, democratic values and common priorities for sustainability. Deliberated upon ways to deepen ties in cheetah conservation and also talked about our shared commitment towards protecting wetlands and the ecosystem they sustain," he posted on X.

As part of efforts to reintroduce cheetahs, which went extinct in India in 1952, 20 African cheetahs have been brought to the country so far: eight from Namibia in September 2022 and 12 from South Africa in February 2023.

Eleven of them have survived. Since the introduction of African cheetahs, 26 cubs have been born in India, of which 17 have survived.