Ambassador of the Republic of India to the Republic of Moldova – on a visit to ”Nicolae Testemitanu” University

Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of Moldova was honored by the visit of His Excellency Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of India to the Republic of Moldova, based in Bucharest, Romania. He was accompanied by Mr. James Minz, Second Secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of India, and Oleg Ursachi, Head of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Moldova.

The visit included a meeting with First Vice-Rector Olga Cernetchi, Vice-Rector for Teaching and Academic Management, Mircea Betiu, Dean of Faculty of Medicine No. 2, Evelina Gherghelegiu, Head of the Department of Foreign Relations and European Integration, and Silvia Ciubrei, Head of the Department of Communication and Public Relations.

The parties addressed topics related to enhancing bilateral cooperation between the University and the Indian state with the aim of attracting young people from India to study, as well as promoting the educational offer, academic and professional mobilities, and state culture and traditions.

In this context, Professor Olga Cernetchi noted "the University's positive experience with students from India, who choose to study here from generation to generation, knowing about the study and living conditions. Also, through the University Management Information System, parents can see the academic success of students remotely. Most importantly, the University offers them access to clinical bases and patients", the first vice-rector emphasized. In this regard, she mentioned that, based on the requirement of the National Medical Council of India, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova have made considerable efforts to legislate a year of mandatory clinical internship for Indian students after completion of undergraduate studies, starting with 2026.

"We invest a lot to ensure the quality of studies and institutional attractiveness at the international level, including in organizing educational fairs and conducting visits to the Indian state. Accordingly, at the request of the University, a diplomatic mission of the Republic of Moldova in India was opened, thus facilitating the process of obtaining visas for Indian citizens," said Olga Cernetchi. At the same time, the first vice-rector addressed the issue of establishing a verified platform for recruiting students from India, through authorized agencies.

In turn, Ambassador Manoj Kumar Mohapatra agreed with the need to regulate cooperation relations between recruitment companies and students and specified that he would identify possibilities for solving this problem, the given topic being a very important one. "I am interested in as many Indian citizens as possible having the opportunity to come to study in Moldova, I interacted with students of Nicolae Testemitanu University and I understood that they feel very good here," the Indian official specified.

The Indian diplomat also met with a group of Indian students, with whom he discussed how they were integrating into our university and adapting to our society. The diplomat assured them that he would support their projects, urging them to be active and organize as many socio-cultural events as possible.

Currently, 1200 students from India study at Nicolae Testemitanu University.