This article covers India's development assistance and humanitarian support to Cuba, and cooperation in energy, science and technology, health, digital public infrastructure and culture. It is based on the MEA bilateral brief of July 2026. The brief's cultural section is short, so it is included here rather than in a separate article.

Disaster relief

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, India has consistently extended development assistance and humanitarian support to Cuba as a gesture of solidarity and friendship. India provided disaster relief assistance, including essential medicines and emergency supplies, following:

  • hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma (2008)
  • hurricane Matthew (2016)
  • hurricane Irma (2017)
  • hurricanes Oscar and Rafael, and earthquakes, in 2024

Following Hurricane Melissa (2025), India extended HADR assistance comprising relief material, medicines and the Aarogya Maitri BHISHM Cube. MoS for External Affairs and Textiles Shri Pabitra Margherita handed it over to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment Mr. Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga during his visit to Cuba in November 2025.

Debt relief, grants and lines of credit

India wrote off Cuba's debt of US$ 62 million in 2008. It donated the India-Cuba Knowledge Centre, an IT training facility, supported the construction of a hockey turf in Havana with US$ 1 million assistance, donated tractors and life-saving medicines, and facilitated the supply of rice under a short-term credit arrangement.

India has extended five Lines of Credit amounting to US$ 243 million for projects in the agriculture, agro-food and renewable energy sectors. These include a Euro 100 million short-term credit arrangement in 2022, under which 166,000 MT of rice was supplied to Cuba by July 2023.

Energy

The brief describes energy cooperation as an important element of India-Cuba relations. Cuba, a member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), hosted an ISA delegation led by the Director General, along with Indian businesses, in August 2025.

During the visit, the delegation inaugurated the Solar Technology Application Resource Centre (STAR-C) at the University of Havana. It also held discussions with Cuban authorities on solar pumps for the tobacco and agriculture sectors and on the solar transition of BioCubaFarma facilities.

Science, biotechnology and health

Cooperation in these fields rests on MoUs on Health and Medicine, Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy, and Biotechnology. The first Joint Working Group (JWG) meetings on Biotechnology and Health were held in February 2025, followed in April 2025 by a visit of Indian delegations from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and AYUSH.

In traditional medicine, a Panchakarma Centre was established at the International Health Centre "La Pradera" in 2019 with support from the Ministry of AYUSH. Efforts are ongoing to establish an Ayurveda Chair at the University of Medical Sciences, Havana. Cuba participated in the WHO Global Summits (2023 & 2025) on Traditional Medicine in India, and regularly observes International Day of Yoga and Ayurveda Day with government support.

The brief states that significant progress has been made in pharmaceutical cooperation. In 2024, India donated Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) worth Euro 10 million under the grant component of the rice Short-Term LoC, enabling Cuba to produce essential antibiotics.

Digital public infrastructure

The India Stack MoU on Cooperation in the field of sharing successful digital solutions was signed in January 2024 in New Delhi. According to the brief, a Digilocker-like platform for Cuba is almost ready for pilot launch in Cuba.

Cuba has also expressed interest in India's Digital ID (Aadhaar), UPI and Disaster Warning System (Sachet), to complement the digital transformation of its government. Cuban officials met the concerned organisations in India in September-October 2025.

Culture

The brief states that Indian culture and civilisation enjoy considerable appreciation in Cuba, with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore holding a special place in Cuban society. ICCR has donated busts of Mahatma Gandhi and Tagore, which are installed at prominent locations in Havana.

The House of Asia in Havana regularly organises exhibitions, film screenings, talks and displays on India, and Indian films are broadcast weekly on Cuban national television. Several ICCR-sponsored cultural troupes have visited Cuba, and Indian Food Festivals, Film Festivals and Festivals of Indian Culture have been organised over the years. In 2025, a festival of 16 Indian films, dubbed or subtitled in Spanish, was screened for the first time across cinema halls in all Cuban provinces.

Cuban groups have also taken part in events in India. The Conjunto Folklorico Nacional performed at the ICCR International Folk Dance & Music Festival in 2023, and Cuba's Erfeon Choir Santiago won first prize at the ICCR International Choral Festival in 2020.