PM Modi’s Poland visit: Becomes first Indian leader to visit Central European nation in 45 years
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Poland, marking the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the country in 45 years. Modi landed in Warsaw this evening as part of a two-nation tour that will also take him to Ukraine‘s capital, Kyiv. The last Indian Prime Minister to visit Poland was Morarji Desai in 1979.
PM Modi’s arrival was met with a ceremonial welcome, highlighting the significance of the visit.
“My visit to Poland comes as we mark 70 years of our diplomatic relations. Poland is a key economic partner in Central Europe,” PM Modi said in his departure statement earlier today.
During his stay in Warsaw, PM Modi is scheduled to meet with President Andrzej Sebastian Duda and engage in bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Donald Tusk. The visit also includes a poignant stop at Warsaw’s memorials dedicated to the Polish women and children who sought refuge in the Indian princely states of Jamnagar and Kolhapur during World War II.
Additionally, Modi will address the local Indian community, which numbers around 25,000, as well as select Polish business leaders and prominent Indologists. The visit underscores the deepening of ties between India and Poland and reflects a broader commitment to strengthening diplomatic and economic relations.
He is also scheduled to visit the memorials in Warsaw commemorating the time in the 1940s, during World War II, when more than 6,000 Polish women and children found refuge in two princely states in India, Jamnagar and Kolhapur. The Prime Minister will also address the members of the Indian community – estimated at around 25,000 – select Polish business leaders and prominent Indologists.
PM Modi has met his Polish counterpart on four occasions in the latter’s earlier capacity as the President of the European Council. He also had a telephonic conversation with President Duda in March 2022, thanking him for the assistance provided by Poland in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Ukraine and for the special gesture of relaxing visa requirements for Indian citizens crossing over to Poland from the conflict zone. More than 4000 Indian students were evacuated via Poland in 2022.
Earlier, on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “Our bilateral trade is substantial. And it’s of the order of US$6 billion, which makes Poland India’s largest trading partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Indian investments in Poland are estimated at around US$3 billion. And the Polish investments into India are around US$1 billion.”
“Many Indian companies have an active business presence in Poland. They are engaged in a range of sectors, from IT to pharmaceuticals to manufacturing to farm vehicles to electronics, steel, metals, and chemicals. Nearly 30 Polish companies have a business presence in India. And some of them have manufacturing units. There are direct flights between India and Poland, which commenced in 2019. And this, in a way, is helping the economic and commercial linkages,” said MEA Secretary Tanmaya Lal.
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