Bucharest, Mar 29 (IANS): Romania and Poland have agreed to establish a joint technical committee on the defence industry, to develop the production of military hardware, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced here.

"I discussed with the Prime Minister the need to develop our own defence industry capabilities, which would ensure the production of equipment, the production of hardware and in particular the production of ammunition," Ciuca told a joint press conference with his visiting Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki after an inter-governmental meeting.

At his meeting with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, Morawiecki stressed that that Romania and Poland are NATO's pillars on the Alliance's eastern flank.

"The modernisation of the army, future joint acquisition, but also joint exercises are happening right now and are a sign of deepened cooperation between Romania and Poland.

"We care about mutual relations, and these are confirmed by the presence of Romanian soldiers on Poland's territory and vice versa," he said.

The Romanian head of state said that close ties with Poland in terms of security and defence must be matched by robust economic cooperation.