New Delhi [India], September 18 : Diplomat Hansraj Singh Verma has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Cuba, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. 
Hansraj Singh Verma, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 2008 batch, is currently serving as the Consul General of India at the Consulate General of India in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the senior diplomat is expected to take up his new assignment in Havana shortly.
According to the Consulate General of India in Sao Paulo, Brazil, prior to the current assignment, he was Counsellor in-charge for Political and Commercial Affairs at the Embassy of India, Buenos Aires.
Verma has a rich and varied experience of serving in various Indian Missions and at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.  He has had assignments with Assistant High Commission of India, Chittagong; Embassy of India, Paris; High Commission of India, Accra; Consulate General of India, Frankfurt; High Commission of India, Maputo; Embassy of India, Lisbon; and Embassy of India, Buenos Aires.
He served as Deputy Chief of Protocol at MEA Headquarters from March 2019 to July 2021. He has also dealt with a wide range of subjects such as Passport and visas, Extradition, the United Nations, Protocol, and Administration at Headquarters, according to the Consulate General. 
This comes as T Armstrong Changsan, the outgoing Ambassador of India to Cuba. was appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Armenia, according to an official statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Changsan, an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of the 1997 batch, is expected to take up his new assignment in Yerevan shortly, the MEA announced in August. 
According to the MEA, India and Cuba enjoy excellent bilateral relations which has been traditionally warm and friendly. India was among the first countries to extend recognition to the new Cuban government following Cuban revolution in January 1959. The visit of Major Ernesto Guevera (Che) to India from 30 June to 4 July 1959 consolidated diplomatic ties which fructified in opening embassies in respective capitals. The first head of the Mission presented credentials on 12 January 1960 in Havana. India and Cuba maintain close contacts with each other in UN, NAM and other international fora.
Development Assistance has been a priority area in the bilateral relations. India has granted disaster relief assistance to Cuba in the wake of devastation caused by various hurricanes over the 5 years viz. aid of US$ 2 million after hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma in 2008; donation of medical supplies worth USD 1 million after Hurricane Mathew in 2016 (handed over in January 2018); and aid of US$ 150,000 as emergency financial assistance after Hurricane Irma in 2017. 
Energy cooperation is an important element of India-Cuba relations. Cuba is a member country and the Vice-President of Latin America & the Caribbean region at International Solar Alliance (ISA). Government of India has extended Lines of Credit for 3 projects in Cuba related to the field viz, according to the MEA.