Extended partnership between Romania and India
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, had talks, in New Delhi, with her Indian counterpart, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
Mihai Pelin, 26.02.2024, 13:50
The Romanian Foreign Minister, Luminiţa Odobescu, and her Indian counterpart, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, adopted, in New Delhi, the Joint Declaration on the 10th anniversary of the Romania-India Extended Partnership. The moment represents a milestone in the history of cooperation between the two countries and allows relations to advance to a higher level of collaboration. According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), the meeting between the two officials took place on the sidelines of an international conference and provided the opportunity for a substantial exchange of views on regional and global issues of common interest, against the backdrop of security developments. The anniversary joint declaration aims to strengthen Romanian-Indian bilateral relations, as well as the cooperation in a multilateral context. It also underlines the sectoral priority approach in three areas, namely energy, IT&C and manufacturing. Both ministers appreciated the progress made in the development of bilateral relations and confirmed the common commitment to the consolidation of collaboration in priority areas, with focus on economic relations and sectoral cooperation.
The two dignitaries highlighted the importance of cooperation in addressing challenges and promoting regional and international stability, the MAE also states. The Joint Declaration on the establishment of an Extended Partnership between Romania and India, signed on March 8, 2013, provides for consolidated cooperation in such sectors as economy and trade, defense, space, agriculture, food industry, infrastructure, SMEs, the pharmaceutical industry, energy, nuclear energy for civil purposes, oil and natural gas exploitation, petrochemical industry, the automotive industry, IT&C, culture, science and technology, higher education and research, and tourism. In 2022, the total volume of trade between the two countries was over 1 billion dollars. India currently occupies the fourth place in the top of Romania’s trade exchanges with the Asian area.
Romania and India established diplomatic relations in 1948, at the Legation level. Seven years later, relations were raised to the Embassy level. Romania’s diplomatic office in India was opened in 1955, and India’s diplomatic office in Bucharest in 1959. According to the Foreign Ministry, in 2023, approx. 700 people with Romanian citizenship lived in New Delhi and in the main cities of India. Romanians living in India work in various sectors: business, education, art, science, and so on. India has officially overtaken China and became the most populous country in the world with over 1.4 billion inhabitants. According to experts, the population explosion should not be seen as a burden, but as a valuable asset that could fuel economic growth.
