India expects exceptional ties with Cuba

CUBA: India’s Ambassador to Cuba said she wished “exceptional” relations could be established between the two countries at all levels, local media reported Tuesday.

Bilateral relations could be further expanded to reach the level the two countries now enjoy in the political field, Indian Ambassador Mitra Vasish said.

She said the two countries could promote ties in such areas as bio-technology, pharmacy, science and technology and culture.

The ambassador cited as an example the two countries’ cooperation via India’s Program of Technical and Economic Cooperation and said much more could be done in this respect as part of South-South cooperation.

Vasisht, also ambassador to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, told the local press that former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is a “very loved person” in India and Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto “Che” Guevara is a familiar person for millions of people in her country.

“The ties of Fidel Castro with Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, as well as the friendly feelings of Raouf Gandhi to Cuba, consolidate this brotherhood at the highest political level,” Vasisht added.

“The Cuban people are special and intelligent; they seek solutions to the many and difficult problems they have to face due to the (U.S.) embargo. That is why this island represents a hope for this hemisphere,” she said. India was one of the first countries to recognize Cuba after the country’s 1959 Revolution.

India has backed Cuba against U.S.-backed resolutions at the UN Human Rights Council on alleged human rights violations in Cuba. It has also voted in favor of Cuba for lifting the U.S. embargo against the island state. Havana, Wednesday, Xinhua