Rio de Janeiro, Jul 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez on the sidelines of the 17th BRICS Summit here in Brazil. PM Modi had earlier met President Diaz-Canel at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in 2023, where Cuba was a special invitee.

During his meeting with the Cuban President, PM Modi conveyed appreciation for Cuba’s recognition of Ayurveda and extended support for integrating Ayurveda into Cuba’s public health system.

The Prime Minister also proposed Cuba’s recognition of Indian pharmacopoeia, which will lead to access to Indian generic medicines.

Taking to X, PM Modi wrote: "It was wonderful to meet President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez of Cuba. In our talks, we covered a wide range of subjects. Economic relations between our nations have a lot of potential to grow in the coming times. Equally promising are sectors like technology, healthcare and energy. The growing acceptance of Ayurveda in Cuba is surely a great thing. We even discussed ways to strengthen the disaster management apparatus."

The PMO, in a statement, mentioned that the two leaders reviewed bilateral ties in the areas of economic cooperation, development partnership, fintech, capacity building, science and technology, disaster management and healthcare.

Acknowledging India’s expertise in the digital domain, President Diaz-Canel expressed interest in India's Digital Public Infrastructure and UPI.

The two leaders agreed to work on issues of concern to the global South, including in the areas of health, pandemics and climate change. They appreciated the cooperation between the two countries in the multilateral arena.

Ayurveda, an indigenous ancient medical science of India, is more than 5,000 years old and is considered to be an 'upveda' of Atharva Veda.

In fact, the mention of the use of herbs for medicinal purposes is found in Rigveda.

The word Ayurveda is a combination of two words -- Ayu (life) and Veda (science).

PM Modi appreciating Cuba for Ayurveda's introduction to the public health system is yet another proud example of the growing outreach of Indian cultural roots, gradually spreading far and wide.

(IANS)

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