New Delhi - India and Cuba have stressed their historic ties and called for increasing bilateral ties while agreed on the importance of the forthcoming summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to be held in Venezuela.

During a visit to this capital of the general director of Bilateral Affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gerardo Peñalver, both sides agreed on closer relations.

As part of his stay here, Peñalver met separately with Indian Deputy Foreign Minister, Preeti Saran, and, assistant secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Ashok Das.

During the meeting with Preeti, both sides urged for the success of the NAM event, to be run from Sep. 13 to 18 in the Venezuelan island of Margarita.

The visitor also held a talk with legislators from several parties at the headquarters of the chamber.

Our countries have much in common and a historical relationship, Peñalver said at a later news conference.

He stressed the cooperation between Havana and New Delhi in several fields, including the development of renewable energy, agriculture, biotechnology and construction.

Peñalver invited Indian businessmen to invest in Cuba, after detailing the advantages of the Mariel Special Development Zone, in western Havana, and the new recently approved laws on the issue.