Vice President Hamid Ansari will pay an official visit to Peru, Cuba and the UK from tomorrow.
This is the first ever visit at the level of Vice President to Peru and Cuba.
Ansari will be accompanied by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Jitin Prasada, four Members of Parliament and senior officials.
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He will be in Peru from October 26-29. During his visit he will hold a comprehensive dialogue with his counterpart Marisol Espinoza Cruz, First Vice-President of Peru, and meet with Foreign Minister and Minister for Foreign Trade & Tourism. He will also call on President Ollanta Humala.
The vice-president's visit coincides with the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Peru.
He will inaugurate the Cultural Festival of India in Lima to commemorate this historic event. India and Peru enjoy warm and friendly ties which are characterised by exchange of regular visits at all levels and underpinned by economic interests. The bilateral trade between India and Peru in 2012 was USD 1.68 billion and evenly balanced.
In Cuba, Ansari will hold comprehensive bilateral talks with his counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, First Vice President of Cuba and call on President Raul Castro. He will also inaugurate a Cultural Festival of India in Havana during the visit.
India and Cuba enjoy historical and cordial relations as founding members of NAM. They maintain close contacts in the multilateral fora on issues of common interest. Bilateral relations are characterised by active cooperation in the field of energy, biotechnology and sports. State-owned OVL has an active presence in the Cuban exclusive economic zone.
In the last leg of his tour, Ansari will be visiting the UK to deliver a public lecture at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies on November 1 on the theme "Identity and Citizenship".
