New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday highlighted that the relationship between India and Romania is not only close and warm but also deeply substantive.

The remarks by EAM came while he was speaking at the release of India-Romania commemorative postal stamps. Notably, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and EAM Dr S Jaishankar released a postage stamp on the completion of 75 years of "India - Romania" relations, in New Delhi on Tuesday.

While addressing the event, Jaishankar stated that establishing a modern and dynamic connection between India and Europe has become an increasingly important objective.

He said, "It is true that when we look at trade routes between India and Europe, Romania had a particularly important position... For us, how to build a contemporary connect between India and Europe has become increasingly important endeavour. Last year, we took a big step toward contemplating an India-Middle-East-Europe connectivity corridor. We expect that this corridor will take a concrete form. I am confident that what we regard this connection between Indian and Europe will take a modern form and develop as a crucial connectivity corridor."

He added, "Our own ties with Romania are close, they are warm, they are substantive... There is an Indian community with about 9,000 Indians, maybe more, living in Romania..."

The External Affairs Minister further emphasised that under Prime Minister Modi's leadership, the government has been dedicated to strengthening and enhancing relations with Europe.

"I would like to convey to all of you, if you look at the last decade of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, perhaps no government in our history has paid as much attention to developing ties with Europe as we have seen in the last decade. Not just ties with big nation states, not just ties with Brussels but ties with the sub-regions, individual countries...," Jaishankar said.

Notably, India and Romania established diplomatic relations in 1948, and raised it to

Ambassadorial level in 1968. India and Romania regularly support each other on several multilateral issues and work in tandem at the UN and other international organisations. Foreign Office Consultations have been instituted to review bilateral relations, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

EAM Jaishankar and former Foreign Minister of Romania, Bogdan Aurescu met on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference on 19 February 2022. FM Aurescu's visit to India in April 2021 to attend the Raisina Dialogue was cancelled due to the pandemic, but he had attended the Dialogue online.

At the invitation of former FM Aurescu, EAM addressed the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy on September 8, 2021. They also interacted briefly at the Foreign Ministers' lunch in Bled, Slovenia on September 3, 2021, and met on the sidelines of EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm on May 13, 2023.

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