India and Romania have signed a defence agreement as Simona Cojocaru, the European country’s deputy minister of defence, met defence secretary Giridhar Aramane in New Delhi.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Cojocaru said, “The central part of my visit here is, of course, the signing of our first Defence Cooperation Agreement, which will set the foundation of the practical cooperation between our armed forces. It will categorically give a new impetus to our bilateral agenda on defence.”
“We are living [in] challenging times and we see that the multilateral system is in crisis. Both Romania—as a solid Nato and EU member country and India—as the fifth economy in the world and one of the largest troop contributors to United Nations peacekeeping missions could play a constructive role in overcoming these challenges and have an important role in strengthening our democratic societies, according to UN Charter principles and values,” she said.
On the significance of the defence pact, she said it represented the basis to setting up and expanding the military relationship.
“It will provide us with greater opportunities to work together in various fields and we are ready to identify domains and topics of common interest. We have already worked together in a multinational environment, such as UN missions. We salute India’s contribution to the UN peacekeeping missions. Our countries are making a significant contribution to enhancing stability and strengthening peace and security in areas marked by the horrors of war. My visit here is a very clear proof of the importance that Romania attaches to the Indo-Pacific region. We are, of course, aware of the strategic importance of this region and we share many of the security concerns and their global implications,” she said.
“We are looking forward to cooperating with India on military education, training, cyber defence, military medicine, military history and other domains that could benefit both our countries. Just to give you one example, I have in my delegation the representatives of the Romanian Institute for Political Studies of Defense and Military History and we are open to cooperate with the Indian Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, within the framework of this first agreement,” she said.
On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, she said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had started a war of choice and shocked the entire world by invading Ukraine. “This war of aggression against a sovereign and independent country brought to our region numerous challenges that threaten its stability and security…The attack against Ukraine is an attack against the entire rule-based international order, its values and principles, and Romania, along with its like-minded partners, responded in solidarity and unity. We are against tyranny, dictatorship and the distortion of European history. More than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has imperialistic ambitions and does not share the values of our societies,” she said. “We stand in full solidarity with Ukraine, we mourn the loss of human lives after indiscriminate attacks of the Russian forces against Ukrainian villages and towns.”
Source: Indian Express