India-Poland ties to strategic partnership elevated by PM Modi & Poland’s PM Tusk

PM Modi was the first Indian premier to travel to Poland in 45 years, and the visit signalled India’s intention to revitalise ties with the sixth largest economy in the European Union (EU) and a rising military power in Central Europe.

Besides drawing up a four-year action plan for the strategic partnership that encompasses security cooperation, trade, technology, connectivity, counter-terrorism, cyber-security and health, the two sides decided to finalise a social security agreement to protect the interests of professionals working in each other’s countries and to promote mobility.

“This year, we celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations. On this occasion, we have decided to reshape our relation into a strategic partnership. Relations between India and Poland are based on shared values such as democracy and rule of law,” Modi told a media interaction after his talks with Tusk, speaking in Hindi.

Tusk said the upgrading of ties was not about just the definition but about the “determination and readiness to cooperate across many fields”. Besides India, Poland’s other strategic partners in Asia are China, Japan and South Korea.

PM Modi invited companies from Poland, a world leader in food processing, to join mega food parks in India and pointed to new opportunities for cooperation in water treatment, solid waste management and urban infrastructure. Clean coal technology, renewable energy and AI can be other areas for collaboration, he said. At the same time, India can share its expertise in fintech, pharmaceuticals and space, Modi said. Poland, Tusk said, has a lot to offer to India in the fields of green transformation and green energy.

Under the strategic partnership, the two sides will maintain regular high-level contacts, stimulate trade and investment and take steps to balance two-way trade and expand the trade basket. Bilateral trade is currently worth $6 billion, making Poland India’s largest trade partner in Central Europe.

According to the action plan for the strategic partnership, institutions from the two sides will hold regular consultations on security and defence cooperation to promote contacts between defence industries and modernise military equipment. The next meeting of the joint working group for defence cooperation will be held in 2024. The action plan said the two sides will explore cooperation in hi-tech, agri-tech, energy, green technologies, infrastructure, defence, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and mining at the next meeting of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC) scheduled for the end of 2024.

PM Modi also met Polish President Andrzej Duda at Belweder Palace in Warsaw and discussed bilateral relations and regional and global issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia. Modi expressed gratitude for Poland’s “invaluable and timely” assistance in evacuating Indian citizens from Ukraine.

PM Modi also held separate meetings with Gawel Lopinski, CEO of Billenium Pvt Ltd, a Polish IT company with a presence in Pune, Alina Posluszny, the managing director of TZMO India, a manufacturer of diversified hygiene products, a group of prominent Polish Indologists, and Kabaddi Federation of Poland president Michal Spiczko and board member Anna Kalbarczyk.