Among the first countries to recognise Cuba after the 1959 Revolution, India has traditionally shared warm and friendly ties with the island nation.&nbsp;

Immediately after the revolution, the first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru received Che Guevara in Delhi and met President Fidel Castro in New York.&nbsp;

The revolutionary Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, will be remembered in India for his close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family.&nbsp;

His historic &quot;sisterly&quot; moment with former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi at the Non-Aligned Summit in New Delhi in 1983 was recorded by all for posterity.&nbsp;

Host of the 1979 summit in Havana, Castro proudly passed the conference gavel to his &quot;sister&quot; Indira Gandhi which he sealed with a bear hug. That was his last visit to India.&nbsp;

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Thereafter, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh paid visits to Cuba in 1985 and 2006 &nbsp;respectively. &nbsp;

Condoling the passing away of the iconic leader, Indira Gandhi&#39;s daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, who leads the Congress party now, described Castro&#39;s death as a loss not limited to Cuba or a particular ideology.&nbsp;

She said, &quot;Castro&#39;s resolute support for India&#39;s cause on various fora will always remain deeply etched in the minds and hearts of the Indian people&quot;.

Both countries have maintained close contacts with each other in various international fora, such as the UN, NAM, WTO.&nbsp;

India has supported resolutions in the UN general assembly calling for lifting of US sanctions against Cuba. While Cuba shares India&#39;s views on democratising UN and expansion of the UN security council.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from agencies)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The revolutionary Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, will be remembered in India for his close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family

Among the first countries to recognise Cuba after the 1959 Revolution, India has traditionally shared warm and friendly ties with the island nation. Immediately after the revolution, the first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru received Che Guevara in Delhi and met President Fidel Castro in New York. The revolutionary Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, will be remembered in India for his close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family. His historic "sisterly" moment with former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi at the Non-Aligned Summit in New Delhi in 1983 was recorded by all for posterity. Host of the 1979 summit in Havana, Castro proudly passed the conference gavel to his "sister" Indira Gandhi which he sealed with a bear hug. That was his last visit to India. 1983 :: Fidel Castro Hugs Indira Gandhi At The Moment of Handing Over of The Chairman's Gavel During NAM Summit pic.twitter.com/TDF9nXCPxp — indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) November 26, 2016 × Thereafter, former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and Manmohan Singh paid visits to Cuba in 1985 and 2006 respectively. Condoling the passing away of the iconic leader, Indira Gandhi's daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, who leads the Congress party now, described Castro's death as a loss not limited to Cuba or a particular ideology. She said, "Castro's resolute support for India's cause on various fora will always remain deeply etched in the minds and hearts of the Indian people". Both countries have maintained close contacts with each other in various international fora, such as the UN, NAM, WTO. India has supported resolutions in the UN general assembly calling for lifting of US sanctions against Cuba. While Cuba shares India's views on democratising UN and expansion of the UN security council. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Fidel Castro's India connection

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro is keeping an eye on the US presidential race, saying that Democrat Hillary Clinton &quot;discredited&quot; Republican rival Donald Trump in their first debate two weeks ago.

&quot;The first debate two weeks ago caused a stir. Mr Trump, who presents himself as having an&nbsp;expert ability, was left discredited as much as Barack (President Obama) is in his policies,&quot; wrote Fidel Castro, the father of the Cuban revolution who turned over the presidency to his brother Raul Castro a decade ago.

The ex-president&#39;s article appeared hours before Clinton and Trump hold their second debate Sunday, less than a month away from the US election on November 8.

In their first debate, on September 26, the media and analysts mainly agreed that Clinton had won.&nbsp;Their second showdown comes as Trump&#39;s White House campaign and the Republican Party as a whole were thrown in disarray over the release of videotaped lewd boasts about groping women he made in 2005.

Cuban authorities, who in 2014 began a historic diplomatic thaw with Cold War-era enemy the United States, have until now given no indication of their preference for a successor to Democrat Obama.&nbsp;But Fidel Castro&#39;s article was seen as a signal on Havana&#39;s leanings.

Clinton is openly campaigning on a continuation of the Obama warming policies with neighbouring Cuba, which resulted in the restoration of diplomatic relations in 2015 after more than a half-century of chilly ties.&nbsp;Trump appears to favour a more restrained approach to the Cuban government.

A highly influential voice in the Caribbean island nation, Fidel Castro, 90, never has questioned the diplomatic strategy of his brother, who repeatedly notes his wariness toward Washington and Obama, who nevertheless was key in moving the diplomatic thawing forward.

(AFP)

'Mr Trump, who presents himself as having an?expert ability, was left discredited as much as Barack is in his policies,' wrote Fidel Castro

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro is keeping an eye on the US presidential race, saying that Democrat Hillary Clinton "discredited" Republican rival Donald Trump in their first debate two weeks ago. "The first debate two weeks ago caused a stir. Mr Trump, who presents himself as having an expert ability, was left discredited as much as Barack (President Obama) is in his policies," wrote Fidel Castro, the father of the Cuban revolution who turned over the presidency to his brother Raul Castro a decade ago. The ex-president's article appeared hours before Clinton and Trump hold their second debate Sunday, less than a month away from the US election on November 8. In their first debate, on September 26, the media and analysts mainly agreed that Clinton had won. Their second showdown comes as Trump's White House campaign and the Republican Party as a whole were thrown in disarray over the release of videotaped lewd boasts about groping women he made in 2005. Cuban authorities, who in 2014 began a historic diplomatic thaw with Cold War-era enemy the United States, have until now given no indication of their preference for a successor to Democrat Obama. But Fidel Castro's article was seen as a signal on Havana's leanings. Clinton is openly campaigning on a continuation of the Obama warming policies with neighbouring Cuba, which resulted in the restoration of diplomatic relations in 2015 after more than a half-century of chilly ties. Trump appears to favour a more restrained approach to the Cuban government. A highly influential voice in the Caribbean island nation, Fidel Castro, 90, never has questioned the diplomatic strategy of his brother, who repeatedly notes his wariness toward Washington and Obama, who nevertheless was key in moving the diplomatic thawing forward. (AFP)

Fidel Castro says Clinton trumped Trump in 1st debate

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro revived old enmities with the United States as he celebrated his 90th birthday today, skewering Havana&#39;s Cold War foe for its repeated attempts on his life. 
 
Castro, who retired from public life in 2006 due to ill health and appointed his brother Raul in his place, criticised US President Barack Obama for failing to explicitly apologise during his historic visit to Japan in May for Washington&#39;s decision to drop the atomic bomb. 
 
&quot;The US president&#39;s speech in Japan lacked the words to apologise for the killing of hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima, even though they (the United States) knew the effects of the bomb,&quot; the ex-leader said in an article published by official media. 
 
(In his speech, Obama did decry the resort to war and called for a world without nuclear weapons.) 
 
Castro condemned as &quot;equally criminal&quot; the bombing of Nagasaki three days later on August 9, 1945. 
 
&quot;That&#39;s why you have to stress the need to preserve peace and that no power has the right to kill millions of people,&quot; Castro said. 
 
Castro recalled his own youth and confrontation with the United States while he headed the communist island. 
 
&quot;I almost laughed at the Machiavellian plans of US presidents,&quot; Castro said in the article published late yesterday. 
 
According to Cuban intelligence services, Castro faced 634 plots between 1958 and 2000. Several of those have been substantiated by US officials; some reportedly involved slipping poisoned or explosive cigars to the cigar-loving Cuban leader. 
 
Castro&#39;s brother Raul restored diplomatic relations with Washington last year. 
 
Castro warned in his article about the risks of global overpopulation, calling it &quot;the greatest threat in the history of mankind.&quot; 
 
He singled out China and Russia as &quot;great powers that cannot be subjected to threats of deploying nuclear weapons.&quot; 
 
Castro was last seen in public on April 19 at the close of the Cuban Communist Party Congress. 
 
Dressed in a blue tracksuit and speaking in a trembling voice, he seemed to say goodbye. 
 
&quot;Soon I&#39;ll be like all the rest,&quot; he said. &quot;Everyone&#39;s turn comes.&quot; 
 
After Barack Obama visited Cuba in March, Fidel Castro recalled the island&#39;s long enmity with the US, including Washington&#39;s backing for the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. 
 
His bitterness over that botched CIA plot played a part in pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis the following year. 
 
The Soviet Union agreed to his request to send ballistic missiles to Cuba, and removed them only after a tense standoff with the United States. 
 
(AFP)

Fidel Castro recalled his own youth and confrontation with the United States while he headed the communist island of Cuba

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro revived old enmities with the United States as he celebrated his 90th birthday today, skewering Havana's Cold War foe for its repeated attempts on his life. Castro, who retired from public life in 2006 due to ill health and appointed his brother Raul in his place, criticised US President Barack Obama for failing to explicitly apologise during his historic visit to Japan in May for Washington's decision to drop the atomic bomb. "The US president's speech in Japan lacked the words to apologise for the killing of hundreds of thousands of people in Hiroshima, even though they (the United States) knew the effects of the bomb," the ex-leader said in an article published by official media. (In his speech, Obama did decry the resort to war and called for a world without nuclear weapons.) Castro condemned as "equally criminal" the bombing of Nagasaki three days later on August 9, 1945. "That's why you have to stress the need to preserve peace and that no power has the right to kill millions of people," Castro said. Castro recalled his own youth and confrontation with the United States while he headed the communist island. "I almost laughed at the Machiavellian plans of US presidents," Castro said in the article published late yesterday. According to Cuban intelligence services, Castro faced 634 plots between 1958 and 2000. Several of those have been substantiated by US officials; some reportedly involved slipping poisoned or explosive cigars to the cigar-loving Cuban leader. Castro's brother Raul restored diplomatic relations with Washington last year. Castro warned in his article about the risks of global overpopulation, calling it "the greatest threat in the history of mankind." He singled out China and Russia as "great powers that cannot be subjected to threats of deploying nuclear weapons." Castro was last seen in public on April 19 at the close of the Cuban Communist Party Congress. Dressed in a blue tracksuit and speaking in a trembling voice, he seemed to say goodbye. "Soon I'll be like all the rest," he said. "Everyone's turn comes." After Barack Obama visited Cuba in March, Fidel Castro recalled the island's long enmity with the US, including Washington's backing for the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. His bitterness over that botched CIA plot played a part in pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban missile crisis the following year. The Soviet Union agreed to his request to send ballistic missiles to Cuba, and removed them only after a tense standoff with the United States. (AFP)

Castro lashes out at US on 90th birthday, says Obama's speech lacked apology for Japan nuclear bombing

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Fidel Castro's India connection

Fidel Castro says Clinton trumped Trump in 1st debate

Castro lashes out at US on 90th birthday, says Obama's speech lacked apology for Japan nuclear bombing