Cuba–India relations

Cuba–India relations

Cuba
India

Cuba–India relations refers to the bilateral ties between the India and the Cuba. Around 34,000 Indo-Caribbeans/Indians live in Cuba.

Both nations are part of the Non-Aligned Movement. Cuba has repeatedly called for a more "democratic" representation of the United Nations Security Council and supports India's candidature as a permanent member on a reformed Security Council.[1] Fidel Castro had said that “The maturity of India…, its unconditional adherence to the principles which lay at the foundation of the Non-Aligned Movement give us the assurances that under the wise leadership of Indira Gandhi [the former Prime Minister of India], the non-aligned countries will continue advancing in their inalienable role as a bastion for peace, national independence and development…"[2]

In 30 June 1949 Cuba’s newest leader sent Ernesto Che Guevara to India. Guevara met Jawaharlal Nehru. In the formal talks that took place before lunch, the two delegations decided to establish diplomatic missions and increase trade as soon as possible.They met the Indian Defence Minister V. K. Krishna Menon ,senior defence officers, and members of the Planning Commission ,Agricultural Research Institute and National Physical Laboratory.

Despite Guevara’s close ties to violence, he had a deep respect for Mahatma Gandhi The report Che Guevara wrote on his return to Cuba documents his appreciation for this aspect of India’s freedom struggle, saying:

In India, the word war is so distant from the spirit of the people that they did not use it even in the tensest moments of their struggle for independence. The great demonstrations of collective peaceful discontent forced the English colonialism to leave forever the land that they devastated during one hundred and fifty years.”

Diplomatic missions

India has an embassy in Havana, the capital of Cuba which had opened in January 1960, soon after che Guevara visit to new Delhi.[3] This had particular significance as it symbolised Indian solidarity with the Cuban revolution.[4] India had been one of the first countries in the world to have recognised the socialist Cuban government after the Cuban Revolution.[5]

Cuba has an embassy in New Delhi, the Indian capital.[6]

"Bread of India"

India provided Cuba with 10,000 tonnes of wheat and 10,000 tonnes of rice in 1992 when Cuba was undergoing hardship. Fidel Castro termed the donation as the “Bread of India”, because it was sufficient for one loaf of bread for each one of the then Cuban population of eleven million people.[2] India also provided donations worth two million dollars during the Cuban earthquake.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ind Embassy Havana". Indembassyhavana.org. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  2. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-02-03. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  3. ↑ "Did You Know Fidel Castro Sent Che Guevara to India Way Back in 1959?". The Better India. 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2016-11-29.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2013-06-02.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-11-14. Retrieved 2015-02-21.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Reitera la India su apoyo a Cuba frente a políticas agresivas de Estados Unidos". latinamericanstudies.org.
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