India, Romania agree to double trade over next three years, strengthen defence collaboration
India and Romania have set a target to double bilateral trade within the next three years, during a State visit to Bucharest by the President of India — the first visit by an Indian President to Romania in nearly three decades.
Three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed, covering science and technology cooperation, sports, and the establishment of a Chair of Indian Studies at the University of Bucharest.
Defence cooperation was identified as a key pillar, with both sides agreeing to deepen exchanges, training, capacity building, and defence-industry collaboration.
India announced doubling of training opportunities for Romania under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, including courses on Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Diplomacy; both countries also agreed to mark 2028 — 80 years of diplomatic relations — as an "India-Romania Year of Innovation."
Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme
ITEC is India's flagship bilateral capacity-building and soft-power diplomacy programme, instituted by a Cabinet decision on 15 September 1964. It offers fully-funded training slots at Indian institutions to nationals of partner developing countries, positioning India as a provider of South-South and development cooperation rather than aid in the traditional donor-recipient sense.
Key Details
- Administered by the Development Partnership Administration (DPA)-II Division of the Ministry of External Affairs.
- Extended to around 161 partner countries across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Pacific/Small Island states.
- Provides roughly 10,000 fully-funded training slots annually across more than 100 Indian institutes, covering fields from IT and management to defence and diplomacy training.
India's decision to double ITEC training slots for Romania, adding AI and Cyber Diplomacy courses, illustrates ITEC's use as a soft-power and capacity-building instrument in deepening a bilateral partnership with an EU/NATO member state.
India-EU Trade Architecture and Romania's Role
Romania, an EU member state since 2007 and a NATO member since 2004, is covered by the broader EU-India trade relationship rather than a separate bilateral FTA, since the EU negotiates trade policy collectively for member states under the Common Commercial Policy (Article 207, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union).
Key Details
- India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations, ongoing since 2007 with a long hiatus and relaunch in 2022, reached a concluded outcome in January 2026, expected to widen market access for EU member states, including Romania, in India.
- Bilateral India-Romania trade stood at roughly USD 2.98 billion in FY 2023-24, with India's exports to Romania crossing USD 1.03 billion in FY 2024-25.
- Romania is geographically significant as a Black Sea littoral state and an EU/NATO eastern-flank member, relevant to India's outreach in Central and Eastern Europe.
The trade-doubling target announced alongside this visit builds on the momentum of the concluded India-EU FTA, positioning Romania as a gateway for deeper India-Central/Eastern Europe economic engagement.
Defence Cooperation Frameworks in Bilateral Diplomacy
Defence cooperation between states typically progresses through structured mechanisms — bilateral defence dialogues, service-to-service exchanges, joint training/exercises, and defence-industrial collaboration (co-production, transfer of technology) — distinct from formal defence pacts or alliances. India's defence diplomacy with non-treaty partners like Romania generally operates through such non-binding cooperative frameworks rather than mutual-defence treaties.
Key Details
- Defence cooperation announced in this instance covers regular exchanges, training, capacity building, and closer collaboration between the two countries' defence industries — short of a formal defence pact.
- India's defence-industrial diplomacy elsewhere (e.g., with France, Russia) has used mechanisms like transfer of technology and co-production, categories relevant to India's "Buy," "Buy & Make," and "Make" procurement classifications under the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP).
- Romania, as a NATO member bordering the Black Sea, is strategically positioned amid regional security dynamics in Eastern Europe.
The agreement to strengthen defence collaboration with Romania reflects India's pattern of using structured, non-alliance defence partnerships to diversify its European defence-industrial and strategic linkages.
- Target: double India-Romania bilateral trade within three years of the announcement (from 2026).
- Bilateral trade was approximately USD 2.98 billion in FY 2023-24; India's exports alone crossed USD 1.03 billion in FY 2024-25.
- ITEC Programme: established 15 September 1964; around 161 partner countries; roughly 10,000 fully-funded training slots annually.
- Three MoUs signed: science & technology, sports, and a Chair of Indian Studies at the University of Bucharest; 2028 designated as the "India-Romania Year of Innovation" marking 80 years of diplomatic ties.