Accompanying Note on Indian-Romanian Relations
by Petre Opriş

I. Brief chronological information

India and Romania established official diplomatic relations on 14 December 1948. After nine years, these relations were raised to embassy level, and India opened an embassy in Bucharest in 1959.

The first visit of a senior Indian official (Vice-President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan) to Romania was in June 1956. In the same year, a cultural delegation led by the Indian deputy minister of foreign affairs visited Romania. In spring 1957, Romanian Prime Minister Chivu Stoica reciprocated with a visit to India. With diplomatic relations consolidated, the Romanian and Indian authorities showed an interest in developing their economic relations as well. The general secretary of the Romanian Workers' Party, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, wanted to explore the attitude of the leadership of the Communist Party of India regarding relations between India, China, and USSR. As a result, a Romanian delegation visited the 6th Congress of the Communist Party of India (Vijayavada, 7-16 April 1961).

In October 1962, a Romanian delegation lead by Gheorghiu-Dej and Prime Minister Ion Gheorghe Maurer visited India. Three years later Radhakrishnan, now India’s head of state, again visited Romania, with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi following suit with a trip to Bucharest in the fall of 1967. On 13 January 1974, an agreement on establishing a Joint Indian-Romanian Governmental Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was signed in New Delhi. The first session of that Joint Commission was held in the fall of 1974 in Bucharest.

II. Bibliography & archival sources

Unpublished Romanian documents from the Cold War period reveal that the main objective of the Romanian leaders was to maintain a balance in their relations with India, China, and USSR. Unfortunately, memoirs covering Indian-Romanian relations during the Cold War have not been published.

The basic archival documents on Indian-Romanian relations can be found in the Central Historical National Archives (CHNA) of Romania in Bucharest. The documents from the former archive of the Romanian Communist Party (CC RCP), covering the period 1948-1989, can be consulted in the research room of the CHNA. Additionally, relevant documents on Indian-Romanian relations can be found in the files of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Shorthands Collection, CC RCP), the Chancellery Collection (abbreviated in Romanian as Fond C.C. al P.C.R. – Cancelarie), and the CC RCP – Foreign Relations Department Collection (abbreviated as Fond C.C. al P.C.R. – Secţia Relaţii Externe). Researchers may use equipment (cameras, notebooks) in the study room of the CHNA. An interesting photo collection covering the period 1948-1989 is available for research purposes.