This article outlines diplomatic relations between India and Romania: the establishment of relations, the Extensive Partnership, visits at the level of leaders and ministers, the Foreign Office Consultations, parliamentary contacts and the main agreements. It is based on the MEA brief of May 2026, and office holders are named as the brief names them, with the date or event it gives.

Establishment of relations

According to the MEA brief of May 2026, India and Romania established diplomatic relations in 1948 and raised them to Ambassadorial level in 1968. The brief describes bilateral political relations as warm and friendly. The two countries celebrated 75 years of diplomatic relations in 2023, an anniversary later marked by a joint postal stamp described in the culture article of this guide.

The Extensive Partnership

During the visit of Romanian Foreign Minister Mr. Titus Corlățean to India in March 2013, the Agreement on Extended Partnership was signed, together with the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement covered in the trade article of this guide. On 23 February 2024, after Foreign Minister Ms. Luminita-Teodora Odobescu met EAM on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue, a Joint Declaration was issued marking the 10th Anniversary of the signing of the Joint Statement on Establishing an Extensive Partnership.

Visits by leaders and senior ministers

The brief lists the following visits:

  • 1965: President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan visited Romania.
  • 1973: President of India Dr. Varahagiri Venkata Giri visited Romania.
  • 1981: Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi visited Romania.
  • 2005: Vice President Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat visited Romania.
  • October 2006: President of Romania Mr. Traian Băsescu paid a State Visit to India, which the brief says marked a turning point in bilateral relations.
  • April 2010: Minister of State for External Affairs Mrs. Preneet Kaur visited Romania for bilateral consultations.
  • 12-16 November 2016: Minister of State for Women and Child Development Mrs. Krishna Raj paid a goodwill visit to Romania.
  • 18-20 September 2018: Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu visited Romania at the invitation of the President of the Romanian Senate, Mr. Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu. An MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism was signed during the visit.
  • 24-27 November 2018: Romanian Foreign Minister Mr. Teodor Viorel Meleșcanu paid an official visit to India.
  • 23-24 February 2024: Foreign Minister Ms. Luminița-Teodora Odobescu visited India for the Raisina Dialogue and held a bilateral meeting with EAM.
  • July 2026 (after the brief): President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu paid a State Visit to Romania, the first State Visit by an Indian President to Romania in nearly three decades, and held talks with President Nicusor Dan in Bucharest on July 23, 2026.

According to the brief, the Vice President's 2018 visit coincided with the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the centenary of modern Romania and the 5th anniversary of the Framework Agreement on Extensive Partnership Cooperation.

Meetings between Foreign Ministers

EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar and the then Foreign Minister, Mr. Bogdan Aurescu, interacted several times. At Mr. Aurescu's invitation, EAM addressed the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy on 8 September 2021. The two met at a Foreign Ministers' lunch in Bled, Slovenia, on 3 September 2021, at the Munich Security Conference on 19 February 2022 and at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm on 13 May 2023. Mr. Aurescu attended the Raisina Dialogue online in April 2021, after his visit was cancelled due to the pandemic.

EAM met Ms. Odobescu again on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly. He met Foreign Minister Mr. Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference on 14 February 2025. He then met Foreign Minister Ms. Oana-Silvia Toiu on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, and subsequently on 4 February during the Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, DC.

Foreign Office Consultations

The brief states that Foreign Office Consultations (FOCs) have been established to review and strengthen bilateral relations. The 5th FOCs were held at Secretary level in Bucharest on 12 June 2023, led by Shri Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), and Mr. Traian Laurentiu Hristea, State Secretary. Secretary (West) also met Mrs. Rozalia-Ibolya Biro, Chairperson of the Foreign Policy Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, and Mrs. Claudia Mihaela Banu, President of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with India.

Earlier rounds included virtual consultations on 17 June 2020 between former Secretary (West) Shri Vikas Swarup and State Secretary Mr Cornel Feruta. Virtual FOCs at JS/DG level were held on 27 October 2020, and the 4th FOCs were held in New Delhi on 14 November 2022, led on the Indian side by JS (CE) Shri Arun Kumar Sahu. The brief states that the next Secretary-level FOCs were scheduled to be held in New Delhi in early 2026.

Parliamentary contacts

  • June 2003: an Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Smt. Sushma Swaraj, then Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Health and Family Welfare, visited Romania.
  • December 2003: the President of the Romanian Senate, Mr. Nicolae Văcăroiu, led a multi-party parliamentary delegation to India.
  • April 2013: Mrs. Ana Birchall, then Chairperson of the Romania-India Parliamentary Friendship Group, visited India.
  • December 2014: an all-party delegation led by Mr. Valeriu Zgonea, then President of the Chamber of Deputies, visited India.
  • June 2022: a virtual meeting between Indian and Romanian parliamentarians was held.

Agreements

The brief's list of recently signed important agreements includes:

  • MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Tourism, September 2018
  • Joint Statement on establishing an Extensive Partnership
  • Cultural Exchange Programme for the period 2022-2027, signed on 1 July 2022
  • Bilateral Land Agreement, signed in New Delhi on 31 January 2023
  • Bilateral Defence Cooperation Agreement, signed in New Delhi on 28 March 2023
  • Framework Agreement for joining the International Solar Alliance, signed by Romania in Dubai on 3 December 2023
  • Joint Declaration marking the 10th Anniversary of the Joint Statement on Establishing an Extensive Partnership, issued on 23 February 2024