India-Romania pact on defence to help promote cooperation, says senion Romanian official Simona Cojocaru

Can you share some details on the Defence agreement signed between India and Romania? What is it intended for?

It is an emerging success in our bilateral relations. The Agreement will promote cooperation in the field of defence between our states, based on the principle of equality and mutual benefit, in accordance with our own national and international policies. It will enhance our collaboration through the exchange of expertise and knowledge on subjects of mutual interest. Furthermore, this agreement will open up enormous opportunities in sectors like defence medicine, scientific research, cyber-defence, technology, and research and development.

My visit to New Delhi is a proof of the importance that Romania, a NATO and EU member state, attaches to the Indo-Pacific region and to the bilateral relationship with India. We are indubitably aware of the strategic importance of this region and share the same interest in a global order based on norms and respect for international law.

What was the focus of the discussions with the Indian Defence Secretary?

I would like to thank Defence Secretary Aramane for his incredible hospitality and for the substantial political-military discussion. We touched upon many subjects such as: the security situation in the Black Sea region and in the Indo-Pacific region and cooperation in the multilateral framework. We have also discussed about the perspectives for the development of bilateral cooperation on matters of interest such as the exchange of experience in cyber-defence, training and education, communications and informatics, military medicine, scientific research in the field of defence policy and military history, as well as in the technical-military field.

Moreover, we approached aspects regarding the cooperation under the aegis of the U.N. and India’s relation with the EU. Cooperation within multilateral formats is equally important and it can, in its turn, generate new opportunities for cooperation. I conveyed my appreciation for the pivotal role that India assumes in ensuring regional and global balance, as well as its major contribution to U.N. peacekeeping missions worldwide.

I have also highlighted the serious impact of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine on Euro-Atlantic security, with major effects not only in the Black Sea region or Europe, but also globally.

The Russian war of aggression is undoubtedly the most significant and direct security threat to Allied security in decades. In response to Russia’s brutal invasion, NATO Allies reacted decisively, in a united and responsible manner. We will always maintain our full support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine within its international recognised borders.

Russia also seeks to undermine the rules-based international order through its coercive military posture and actions. Russia’s continuous actions to erode and sabotage the arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation architecture have negatively impacted strategic stability.

I would like to make one thing very clear. The umbrella of NATO collective defence is a shield for each Allied state, including Romania. NATO is a defensive alliance and does not seek confrontation with any state.

How do you intend to take forward cooperation in co-development and co-production and what areas/systems are you looking at? Any possibility of Romania sourcing systems/hardware from India?

I believe the agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of India will provide the legal framework for future cooperation in the field of defence, including a potential cooperation in the above-mentioned areas. This is the ground zero for any cooperation.

Assessing the lessons learned from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the increasing level of technology employed on the battlefield, the hybrid and other asymmetric threats, the malicious use of emerging and disruptive technologies, have radically transformed the nature of the military conflict, by adding new dimensions. We need to be prepared.

In this regard and benefiting from the increase in the defence budget implemented from 2023 onward (from 2% to 2.5% GDP), Romanian Armed Forces are thus able to reprioritize and accelerate the procurement and acquisition programs, appropriately consolidate the operational capacity of national forces, speed up the capability development plans, but also consider new national projects with the aim of moving toward the drone warfare age.

From a broader perspective in terms of development in the Indo-Pacific, how does Romania see India and how do you intend to take it forward in bilateral and multilateral level?

We value the importance of cooperating with like-minded partners from the Indo-Pacific. A lot of the challenges we face are interconnected and the developments from India’s region will have also an effect in Europe, and vice versa. Thus, the relations with our Indo-Pacific partners are of utmost importance especially in addressing global challenges and defending the rule-based international order on a bilateral as well as at a multilateral level.

The Indo-Pacific region and the Republic of India have an increased strategic relevance on the international scene. As EU is committed to developing a distinctive role in the region, including by deepening security and defence dimension with partners in the Indo-Pacific, we believe EU’s partnership with India is key for achieving positive results.

India represents an important partner for Romania in the Indo-Pacific region and we are interested in deepening our bilateral ties for the mutual benefit of our countries. Moreover, EU Strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific represents an opportunity to advance the cooperation between EU and India in the region. Romania will continue to pursue an active involvement in the Indo-Pacific, in the framework of the EU Strategy for cooperation in this region.