By Dr Aparaajita Pandey
Cuba is an interesting name for students of political science and history, for people who are fond of Rum and Cigars, and very few who are avid travelers and those few who wish to ride their motorcycles across the continent of Latin America like Che Guevera. While the categories listed might seem numerous at first glance, on a quieter reflection one does notice the general lack of understanding of bilateral, multilateral, and /or the greater geopolitical implications of relations between India and Cuba, let alone delve into the history of those relations. A similar lack of interest can be traced in understanding the present conditions and future possibilities of this relationship.
However, India and Cuba have been silently working together towards forging a stronger bond between the two nations and finding grounds for common interest and working together in a symbiotic fashion. As Cuba is opening itself to ventures from around the world and is attracting new wealth and development into the country, India is also looking at the Caribbean nation as a potential trading partner and a dependable friend of the global south. The complicated relationship between Cuba and the United States of America tends to overshadow conversations about the Cuban nation, however, the world is now beginning to realise that the country has much to offer.
This is not to say that India and Cuba have no historical precedence of interest in collaboration with one another. The first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, arguably some of the most famous names to come out of Cuba held meetings together right after the Cuban Revolution in 1959. While these meetings were historic in their own right, they were not geared towards cementing a bilateral relationship. Later, former PM Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh visited Cuba for NAM Summits.
It is clear that while Cuba and India see eye to eye on most subjects and have the potential to work closely together, they haven’t yet explored that possibility; which is not transforming under the current Indian regime and its vision for India and relationships across the global south. Cuba is now becoming a prominent feature of the Indian map of global trade, joint ventures, people to people contact, and cultural & educational exchange. In the last year itself over 3800 tourists and 2900 NRIs have visited the island of Cuba which is quite a feat in itself since the connectivity through flights between Cuba and India is poor at best.
As Cuba is updating its economic models to attract foreign investment, India is looking at the nation as a lucrative partner. There are great opportunities for Indian investors in the sectors of biotechnology, renewable energy, infrastructure, and tourism, especially medical tourism. Cuban superiority regarding medical capabilities became apparent in the early days of the Covid- 19 pandemic. The field of medical tourism is a speciality both in India and Cuba and a few other islands of the Caribbean like the Dominican Republic.
Since last year India and Cuba are focusing on expanding their partnership and a step towards this expansion was taken when India extended a line of credit worth 100 million Euros to buy rice from India. This became a significant milestone of collaboration between India and Cuba as it marked the 63rd anniversary of the meetings between Che Guevara and Jawaharlal Nehru. It also took place during the Foreign Office Consultation of FOC, which happened to be the largest of its kind in the region in recent times.
Looking at the avenues of collaboration, one of the most significant sectors that emerged out of the dialogue was that of renewable energy. As a Caribbean island, Cuba stands to incur heavy losses due to climate change and global warming, to this effect the country has decided to make shift towards renewable energy away from fossil fuels. India is helping Cuba by assisting the nation in setting up a wind energy farm with a capacity of 50 MW and a solar energy farm with a capacity of 75 MW. The solar energy project also reiterated India’s commitment to the International Solar Alliance.
On similar lines of infrastructural development and capacity building, a technology park is being built in Havana and sites have been identified for agricultural collaborations since food security is an issue for Cuba. Greater people to people contact is also being encouraged by the two nations and to this end avenues for better connectivity and better hotels are being explored. Cultural and educational exchanges are also being given priority with ITEC scholarships and new centres of Latin American Studies coming up in India. One such centre has been opened recently at the Kerala University and has garnered great interest among students.
The author is an independent political analyst and has a PhD in Latin American Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University.
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