Terror has no religion; need to create global consensus: Venkaiah Naidu

Terrorism is an enemy of humanity and there is a need to create the needed atmosphere and global consensus for fighting the menace, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday in Romania.

VP Naidu, who is visiting the southeastern European country on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of India-Romania diplomatic relations, met President of Romania Klaus Werner Iohannis and talked intensively on bilateral and multilateral issues of mutual concern including trade, IT, defence and space.

“We have to create the needed atmosphere and global consensus for fighting terrorism which is a menace to humanity. “Terror has no religion, terror does not belong to any particular race, it’s an enemy of humanity. Let us all work together to root out terror from the globe so that the world can move forward peacefully towards a prosperous future,” Naidu said after his meeting with President of the Senate of Romania Calin Popescu-Tariceanu.

The vice president and Romania President Iohannis led delegation-level talks to further strengthen relations in trade, small and medium-sized enterprises, pharma, information technology, defence, agriculture, space and science and technology, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet. He also met Liviu Dragnea, the President of Chamber of Deputies at the Palace of Parliament.

The Petroleum Gas University of Polesti, Romanaia and Pandit Deendayal Petrolium University, Gujarat signed an MoU for capacity building and mutual training. An agreement in the area of petroleum and gas was also signed between Indian and Romanian Universities on the sidelines of the meeting between Naidu and Popescu-Tariceanu, Kumar said. “I am pleased to visit this beautiful country on the occasion of 70th anniversary of our strong diplomatic relations. I convey the wishes of 1.3 billion people of the Republic of India to the people of Romania for the Centenary year celebrations,” VP said.

India and Romania relations are historic, warm and friendly, he said. “My visit reflects our desire to strengthen our collaboration shared commitment to bolster our friendship and diversify our ties. We agreed that we shall work towards enhancing our already excellent trade relations. My talks with Popescu-Tariceanu were meaningful and constructive. The longstanding excellent relations between India and Romania provided the backdrop for our fruitful engagement,” the vice president said.

India stands ready to intensify parliamentary visits and other high-level exchanges between India and Romania to strengthen ties in the political, economic and cultural areas, Naidu said. He conveyed best wishes for the upcoming Presidency of Council of European Union in January, 2019. “Romania has emerged as a respected leader in the Balkans. We appreciate Romania’s spirit to succeed and have faith in its efforts for a better tomorrow. We agreed that we shall work towards enhancing already excellent trade relations,” Naidu said.

The vice president arrived in Romania on Tuesday on the last leg of his three-nation visit to boost India’s ties with the southeastern European country. He will be in Romania from September 18 to Setember 20.