Vice President Ansari leaves for Cuba

Vice President Hamid Ansari today left here for the first ever bilateral visit to Cuba by a top Indian leader after a "landmark" tour of Peru during which four agreements were signed.
Ansari will be the first Indian VVIP to go to the Communist country on a bilateral visit as earlier trips by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and others were in connection with multi-lateral events and meetings.
He will hold talks with President Raul Castro but it is still unclear whether he will meet Fidel Castro, the hero of the Cuban revolution who gave up the presidency in 2008 because of poor health.

Officials described India's ties with Cuba as "deep, enduring and historical".
Summing up Ansari's meetings with Peru's leadership, Secretary (West) Dinkar Khullar said the visit was a "landmark" one as India had set the pace by engaging in key fields with the fastest growing country in Latin America.
India signed four agreements with Peru, including one on defence cooperation, to boost ties with the resource-rich country. The pacts were signed yesterday at the end of Ansari's three-day visit.
Two agreements cover an exchange programme in education and another a letter of intent for cooperation in culture. The two sides also signed an agreement to set up a joint commission to step up bilateral ties.

Peru came out in support of India's claim for permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council.