The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India and Romania are growing at an unprecedented and steady pace. He was holding bilateral discussions with the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Werner Iohannis, the President of the Senate of Romania, Mr. Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Nicolae-Liviu Dragnea, in Bucharest, during his two-day visit to Romania today. The Minister of State for Finance, Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.The Vice President explained the working of the parliamentary system and how both India and Romania have been strengthening diplomatic relationship over the last 70 years. He conveyed the good wishes of the people of India to the people of Romania on the centenary year of Romania. He touched upon various initiatives being taken up by the Government of India to deepen the roots of democracy through the three tier governance structure comprising of Parliament, State Assemblies and the local bodies. He underscored India’s commitment and desire to work towards enhancing the already excellent trade relations between the two countries. He appreciated Romania’s initiative to celebrate the International Day of Yoga in Romanian Parliament. He expressed India’s readiness to intensify Parliamentary visits and other high level exchanges between the two countries to strengthen political, economic and cultural ties.
The Vice President had a very fruitful meeting with the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Werner Iohannis and greeted the people of Romania on the centenary year of Romania and also expressed happiness that his visit is coinciding the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. He complimented the President on Romania’s sustained economic growth and hoped that the trade and investment relationship will further expand deepening the economic linkages between the two countries. The two leaders shared thoughts on regional and global issues with friendly candor. The President of Romania congratulated India on its success in accelerating economic development and promised that he would take further steps to strengthen the relationship between the two countries as well as between European Union and India.The Vice President said that India values its partnership with European Union and seeks Romania’s support to carry forward the negotiations on India-EU Free Trade Agreement which is under discussions for over three years.
The Vice President appreciated Romania's support for resumption of talks on India-EU BTIA (India-European Union Broad-based Trade & Investment Agreement) and willingness to bring this negotiations to an early and successful closure when Romania assumes the presidency of EU later this year.Responding to the remarks of the President of Romania regarding their countries support to India’s aspiration for permanent membership of UN Security council, the Vice President expressed great appreciation of Romania’s gracious gesture of support not only for this specific issue but also for the broader reforms of UN system.The Vice President thanked Romania for supporting India’s efforts at developing consensuses on draft Comprehensive Convention on International terrorism. Both the leaders also underscored the need to fight the scourge of terrorism in all forms.The Petroleum & Gas University of Polesti, Romanaia and the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gujrat have signed a MoU, in the presence of both the leaders, for capacity building and mutual training in the field of petroleum and gas sector.Later in the day, the Vice President would be having discussions with the Prime Minister Ms. Vasilica Viorica Dancila and will be addressing the India-Romania Business meeting which will hopefully result in fruitful collaboration and diversification of trade basket covering sectors such as ICT, Pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics, agri-foods and tourism.