Romanian-Indian Bilateral Ties
Romania and India have signed a memorandum of collaboration in the field of tourism, on the occasion of a visit that the Vice-President of India Venkaiah Naidu has paid to Bucharest.
Mihai Pelin, 20.09.2018, 12:45
The Indian Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu has recently travelled to Bucharest to meet with Romanias President Klaus Iohannis. The two officials have tackled a number of topics, among which Romanias prospective support for a rapprochement between India and the EU. In the first half of 2019, when it will be holding the presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania will explore means to bring India closer to the EU, Klaus Iohannis said after the meeting with Venkaiah Naidu, who has travelled to Romania accompanied by a delegation of business people.
President Klaus Iohannis: “During our meeting, I encouraged the consolidation of economic ties and Indian investment in Romania. We have agreed that it is useful to give priority to collaboration in culture, education and tourism, fields that have proven, throughout the long history of the Romanian-Indian traditional ties, genuine friendship bridges.”
In turn, the Indian official has talked about boosting and diversifying the relations between the two countries. He has also met with the Romanian PM Viorica Dancila, who has pointed out that there are numerous sectors in which the two countries can cooperate, and which have a real potential for development, such as transport, infrastructure, agriculture, food industry, health and IT&C and also promising perspectives in other sectors, such as digitization, smart cities and cyber security. The two parties have decided to focus on strengthening cooperation in the fields of culture, education and tourism. PM Dancila has also said that Romania is interested in attracting Indian investors.
PM Viorica Dancila: “I have voiced Romanias interest in attracting more Indian investment, including through public-private partnerships. I have told vice president Venkaiah Naidu that Romania will continue to support the consolidation of the relations between the EU and India.”
A memorandum of understanding has been signed in Bucharest between the Romanian and Indian tourism ministries, on cooperation in the field. One of the objectives of this cooperation is to attract investment for the development of Romanian tourism. In the past years, Romania has become a tourist attraction for Indian visitors, whose number is on the rise. During his visit to Bucharest, the Indian official has also attended the opening of the Romania-India Economic Forum, organized by the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
India is at present Romanias second largest partner in Asia, after China. In 2017 the value of trade exchanges between the two countries stood at 642 million dollars. The Indian officials visit to Romania took place in the context of the celebration of 70 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between Romania and India and of 5 years since the signing of the extended partnership agreement between the two countries.
(translated by Elena Enache)
