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Cuba and India celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations Published on Saturday, February 20, 2010 Email To Friend    Print Version (ACN) -- Cuba and India celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations with the cancellation of a commemorative stamp during a ceremony that took place at Havana’s House of Friendship. Members of the Asian diplomat corps in the Cuban capital and local leaders attended the celebration convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) and the Cuban Ministry of Computing and Communications. The stamp reproduces a photograph of a meeting between the leader of the Cuban Revolution Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and India’s Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in the United Nations General Assembly in 1960. Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Marco Rodriguez said that for five decades bilateral relations between the two countries have been characterized by mutual respect and strong commitment to the principles of International Law as stated in the UN Charter. The diplomat highlighted the excellent levels of cooperation and exchange achieved, particularly on topics of international interest due to the two countries’ similar condition as developing nations and members of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM). For her part, the Indian ambassador to Havana, Mitra Vasisht, said relations with Cuba are very important to her nation. She added that both countries share similar approaches, for instance, concerning the lifting of Washington’s economic, financial and commercial blockade of Cuba and South-South cooperation. Mitra also emphasized the achievements of bilateral exchange in areas such as biotechnology, computing, the pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, medical research, renewable energy and sports. India was among the first countries that recognized the Cuban revolutionary government after its triumph in 1959. Bilateral diplomatic relations were established on January 12, 1960.   Reads : 30 Back... Comments: No comments on this topic yet. Be the first one to submit a comment. Back... Send us your comments!   Send us your comments on this article for publication in our Readers' Forum or as a Letter to the Editor. All fields are required and in the interest of openness and transparency we will no longer accept anonymous submissions. We therefore request that all submissions include a name for publication, regardless of content. We will in special circumstances protect a writer's identity only after we have established good cause for anonymity, otherwise we will not be able to publish the submission. For your contribution to reach us, you must (a) provide a valid e-mail address and (b) click on the validation link that will be sent to the e-mail address you provide.  If the address is not valid or you don't click on the validation link, it will be a waste of your time typing your submission because we will never see it! Your Name: Your Email: (Validation required) Comments: Enter Validation Code *