India-Romania a complete partnership, ties growing stronger: Envoy

Romanian Ambassador to India, Sena Latif, has termed the bilateral relationship a 'complete partnership' that is growing stronger across trade, culture, and defence, highlighting a recent defence ministry-level meeting in New Delhi.

A 'Complete Partnership'

Highlighting the deep-rooted and expanding bilateral ties between Bucharest and New Delhi, the Ambassador of Romania to India, Sena Latif, on Friday termed the relationship a "complete partnership" that is growing stronger by the day across critical sectors, including trade, culture, and defence. Speaking to ANI, Ambassador Latif underscored the strategic importance of the defense relationship, pointing to the recently concluded second defense ministry-level meeting held in the national capital. "It's a complete partnership between Romania and India, growing stronger every day. We talked about trade, the economy, culture, and, of course, defence, which plays a very important role. This was the second such meeting between our ministries of defence; the first one took place in Romania, and now it was in New Delhi," Latif told ANI.

The envoy emphasized that as a member of both the European Union and NATO, Romania values its existing alliances but recognizes the urgent need to broaden its horizons by engaging with key global players who share similar values. "Romania is a member of the EU and NATO, and we have strong alliances and partnerships. But in moments like these, we see how important it is to expand, to talk more and more with like-minded partners such as India," she added, highlighting the EU-India partnership as a landmark agreement that unites two of the world's largest consumer markets and deepens cultural connections.

Condolences on fire tragedy

Ambassador Latif also expressed profound grief over the recent Malviya Nagar fire tragedy, noting that the Romanian leadership has extended its solidarity to India during this difficult time. "Unfortunately indeed it has been a very tragic incident and our Foreign Minister has expressed condolences to all the people of India. Our heartfelt condolences go to the families of the victims and we wish a speedy recovery to those injured," she said.

Strengthening Cultural Bonds

On the cultural and educational front, the Ambassador lauded a unique, pioneering initiative connecting young Indian students with Romania under the Erasmus+ program. Through a collaboration involving the University of Craiova and the International Shakespeare Festival, twenty tribal students and their teachers from the Odisha-based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) were awarded a two-month scholarship to Romania. "We are very privileged at the Embassy of Romania that we could be a small part of this very important project. This allowed them to go to Craiova, Romania, and prepare for this premiere--something that has never happened before, where Shakespeare is performed in so many languages," Latif told ANI, celebrating the unprecedented youth exchange as a testament to the thriving cultural bonds between the two nations. (ANI)

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