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![[AP]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/cuba-300x246.jpg)
Parrilla said Latin America and the Caribbean region share a “lot in common” with India [AP]
“We wish to seek a higher level of economic cooperation with India and the other BRICS nations, which we consider to be valuable,” Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said in New Delhi on Monday.
Parrilla proposed closer cooperation between the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a bloc of 33 sovereign countries in the Americas, and BRICS.
He was addressing a talk organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi while on a four-day visit to India.
The Cuban minister said Latin America and the Caribbean region share a “lot in common” with India and the region was keen to boost trade relations with New Delhi.
“CELAC has profound interest in improving relations with BRICS countries,” said Parrilla, adding that one of the purposes of his visit was to put forward the proposal.
Parrilla said Cuba, which has been facing US economic sanctions for the past 50 years, has opened up its economy and was looking to boost economic ties with other countries.
“We are trying to bring in a lot of changes in Cuba, including the abolition of the two currency system and encouraging investments from small private entities and cooperative societies,” he said.
Offering to cooperate with India in the pharmaceutical sector, he said that Cuba and other Latin American countries who are a part of CELAC have considerable amount of expertise and resources to offer to Indian companies.
With inputs from agencies
