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.
“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 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.” (Indian Express)