Cuba | Sri Lanka |
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Cuba and Sri Lanka have had official diplomatic relations since 1959. [1] Cuba has an embassy in Colombo and Sri Lanka has an embassy in Havana.
The current government of Cuba and the government of Sri Lanka established ties shortly after Fidel Castro's ascent to power in 1959. Ties were officially made on July 29, 1959, and Cuba and Sri Lanka recently celebrated the golden jubilee of this occasion after fifty years of bilateral ties. [2] Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to recognize Cuba, when Che Guevara (then Industry Minister) visited Sri Lanka on a delegation [3] to promote the sugar trade. The 2 countries had an unofficial relationship through trading in the late 1800s to early 1900s which was then made official in 1959. This resulted in mixed communities in both countries. There are many Sri Lankan medical students studying in Cuba, as well as Cuban sports trainers hired to work in Sri Lanka. [2]
Both Sri Lanka and Cuba were members of the Non-aligned movement, which rejected a bipolar domination of world affairs. [4] Though many members of the Non-Alignment Movement were embroiled in intra-member conflicts, [5] Cuban-Sri Lankan relations were quite cordial. Prime Minister Junius Richard Jayawardene visited Cuba in 1979 to promote the aims of the movement, while the respective governments signed a number of agreements in the 1970s to further cement ideological ties. These included a cultural agreement, signed in 1976 and amended many times later, and a Scientific and Technical agreement which was signed in 1978 and later buttressed by later added protocols. Cuba also supported Sri Lanka by rejecting the 2012 U.S. sponsored resolution. [2]
Cuba and Sri Lanka have cooperated in a number of sectors with the goal of mutual development and economic progress. This cooperation has been especially noted in the sectors of risk management and biotechnology. [6] Ties in the agriculture sector have been developed, and the similar climates of both countries [7] have enabled the countries to work on developing crops such as papaya and coconut. Many traders from the Havana region of Cuba have settled in the North & North West of Sri Lanka in the early 20th century and made communities which no longer seem to be visible. However some cultural influences still hold, such as the Cuban contributions to Baila, a form of dance music popular on the island of Sri Lanka originated centuries ago among the 'kaffir' or Afro-Sinhalese communities (mixed communities of Portuguese, African and native Sinhalese people). Small Sri Lankan communities are still present in some parts of Cuba, as well as people of Cuban mixed heritage in the northernmost parts of Sri Lanka. [8]
Cuba's foreign policy has been fluid throughout history depending on world events and other variables, including relations with the United States. Without massive Soviet subsidies and its primary trading partner, Cuba became increasingly isolated in the late 1980s and early 1990s after the fall of the USSR and the end of the Cold War, but Cuba opened up more with the rest of the world again starting in the late 1990s when they have since entered bilateral co-operation with several South American countries, most notably Venezuela and Bolivia beginning in the late 1990s, especially after the Venezuela election of Hugo Chávez in 1999, who became a staunch ally of Castro's Cuba. The United States used to stick to a policy of isolating Cuba until December 2014, when Barack Obama announced a new policy of diplomatic and economic engagement. The European Union accuses Cuba of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms". Cuba has developed a growing relationship with the People's Republic of China and Russia. Cuba provided civilian assistance workers – principally medical – to more than 20 countries. More than one million exiles have escaped to foreign countries. Cuba's present foreign minister is Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.
Sri Lanka, historically known as Ceylon, and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest.
Foreign relations of Sri Lanka refers to the diplomatic and commercial relations between Sri Lanka and other countries. Sri Lanka has stressed its principle of "friendship towards all, enmity towards none" in its diplomacy.
China–Cuba relations are the interstate relations between the People's Republic of China and Republic of Cuba. The origins of the relations began when the Qing dynasty established a consulate in Havana while Cuba was a still a colony of Spain in 1879. In 1902, the Qing dynasty recognized the independence of the Republic of Cuba from the United States, which had taken it from Spain in 1898. Cuba recognized the PRC in September 1960.
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Indo-Colombian relations are the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of India. Both countries established diplomatic ties on January 19, 1960. Colombia is currently the commercial point of entry into Latin America for Indian companies.
India–Sri Lanka relations, Indian-Sri Lankan relations, or Indo-Sri Lanka relations, are the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka. India has emerged as the foremost partner for Sri Lanka in the endeavor to revitalize its economy, reform its bureaucracy, and enhance decision-making processes for future economic collaborations. India and Sri Lanka share a maritime border. India is the only neighbour of Sri Lanka, separated by the Palk Strait; both states occupy a strategic position in South Asia and have sought to build a common security umbrella in the Indian Ocean. Both India and Sri Lanka are republics that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact was an agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the leader of the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka S. J. V. Chelvanayakam on July 26, 1957. It advocated the creation of a series of regional councils in Sri Lanka as a means to giving a certain level of autonomy to the Tamil people of the country, and was intended to solve the communal disagreements that were occurring in the country at the time.
Hungary–Sri Lanka relations are foreign relations between Hungary and Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has an embassy in Vienna, Austria that is accredited to Hungary and has a consul in Budapest Hungary maintains a consulate in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Japan–Sri Lanka relations refers to the bilateral relations between the Sri Lanka and Japan.
Bangladesh – Sri Lanka relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Relations have been generally friendly due to trade and investments. Bangladesh also hosts a number of Sri Lankan medical students and cricket as a form of friendly communications between their people.
Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is a Sri Lankan political ideology which combines a focus upon Sinhalese culture and ethnicity (nationalism) with an emphasis upon Theravada Buddhism, which is the majority belief system of most of the Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. It mostly revived in reaction to the colonisation of Sri Lanka by the British Empire and became increasingly assertive in the years following the independence of the country.
The Thirteenth G-15 summit was held in Havana, Cuba on September 14, 2006. The group's meeting was coordinated to take place at the same time as a non-aligned summit of 116 developing nations in the Cuban capital.
Cuba–India relations are the bilateral ties between the Republic of Cuba and the Republic of India. The two countries share a warm and close relationship marked by mutual respect, solidarity and cooperation.
Israel–Sri Lanka relations refers to the bilateral relations between Israel and Sri Lanka.
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, an international groupation established to maintain independence of countries beyond Eastern and Western Bloc from the major Cold War powers. Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, hosted the First Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in September 1961 and the Ninth Summit in September 1989.
The foreign policy of the Indira Gandhi government was the foreign policy of India between 1967 and 1977 during the Indira Gandhi premiership. It included a focus on security, by fighting militants abroad and strengthening border defenses. On 30 October 1981 at the meeting organised to mark silver jubilee celebration of the School of International Studies, Gandhi said, "A country’s policy is shaped by many forces- its position on the map, and the countries which are its neighbours, the policies they adopt, and the actions they take, as well as its historical experiences in the aggregate and in terms of its particular success or traumas."
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. It was founded with the view to advancing interests of developing countries in the context of Cold War confrontation. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
6th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement took place on 3–9 September 1979 in Havana, the capital city of Cuba. 93 countries took part in the summit. It was the first NAM summit which took place in one Iberoamerican country. The event was marked by political and ideological divisions among the non-aligned countries. The organizer wanted to use the event to propose "a natural alliance" between the movement and the Eastern Bloc causing strong resistance from some members, particularly SFR Yugoslavia. While both Cuba and Yugoslavia were at the time nominally socialist states, they took substantially different position in world politics with Cuba perceiving United States and Yugoslavia perceiving Soviet Union as the main threat to its independence.
Sri Lanka is one of the founding members of the Non-Aligned Movement. Principles of Non-Alignment and participation in movement's activities is of high priority in foreign policy of the country.