India Seeks to Turn Havana into Its Regional Operations Center

HAVANA TIMES — India’s ambassador to Havana, Chinthapally Rajasekhar, said on Monday that his country wants to put “economic substance” into its ties with Cuba, as he spoke during the visit of that Asian nation’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Jyotiraditya Scindia, from July 10 to 13.

India is seeking closer working relations in the areas of services, information technology and “general interests wherever these exist,” reported the Prensa Latina news agency.

Scindia’s visit could at least seal the signing of a memorandum of understanding between business leaders and with regard to lines of credit between the two governments, said official sources.

The ambassador announced that entrepreneurs from Haiti and the Dominican Republic had been invited to the business forum scheduled between Cuban and Indian representatives to be held in Havana on July 12, as his country is “hoping to explore the possibility of converting Havana into the center of Indian operations in the region.”

Currently, Indian exports to Cuba include medicines, light industrial and plastic products, while that country receives some drugs and the services of sports coaches from the island.