Manmohan Singh honours Gandhi in South Africa

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (L) is accompanied by South African South African President Thabo Mbeki as they garland the bust of Mohandas Gandhi at Durban's Phoenix Gandhi Settlement yesterday in Durban, the site where Gandhi began the non-violent struggle against apartheid a century ago. Singh is on a four-day official tour to attend the Gandhi' Centenary celebrations. PHOTO: AFP

Singh, who began a four-day state visit to South Africa on Saturday, rode an old steam-powered train for 30 minutes before disembarking in Pietermaritzburg, the town where Gandhi was thrown off a train for riding in a whites-only compartment.

Gandhi's experience led to the 1906 launch of his "Satyagraha" movement, which advocated passive resistance against the apartheid system in place in South Africa at the time and the colonial rule that existed in India and elsewhere.

"It's a soul-stirring experience," Singh said on the platform of the train station in Pietermaritzburg, some 70 km north of Durban, the country's main port and home to much of its large Indian community.