Poland in India

After the weakening of relations in the 1990s related to transformation changes in Poland and economic reforms in India, regular contacts are maintained, including the ones at the highest level. The most important visits in recent years include official visits to Poland by President of India Pratibha Patil (2009) and Vice President of India M.H. Ansari (2017). In turn, in 2010 Prime Minister Donald Tusk paid a state visit to India.

The most important bilateral visits: to India: 2019 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Energy G. Tobiszowski; 2019 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Infrastructure M. Wild; 2019 – Head of President's Office K. Szczerski; 2018 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Environment M. Kurtyka; 2018 – Minister of Fianance T. Czerwińska; 2018 Secretary of State in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development J. Bogucki; 2018 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Foreign Affairs M. Magierowski; 2018 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Energy G. Tobiszowski; 2017 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Energy G. Tobiszowski; 2017 – Undersecretary of State in MInistry of of Economic Development W. Słowik; 2017 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development E. Lech; 2017 – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage P. Gliński; 2017 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Economic DEevelopment T. Kościński; 2017 – Podsekretarz Stanu in Ministry of Foreign Affairs J. Wronecka; 2016 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Environment S. Mazurek; 2016 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development E. Lech; 2016 – Podsekretarz Stanu in Ministry of Economic Development R. Domagalski; 2016 – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage P. Gliński; 2015 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Economy J.W. Pietrewicz; 2015 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Foreign Affairs L. Soczewica; 2015 – Secretary of State in Ministry of State Treasury Z. Gawlik; 2015 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Z. Szalczyk; 2015 Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development M. Sawicki; 2015 – Minister of Environment M. Grabowski; 2015 – Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy J. Piechociński; 2015 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Foreign Affairs K. Kacperczyk; 2015 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Economic Development T. Nalewajk; 2014 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Economic Development J.W. Pietrewicz; 2014 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Economic Development T. Nalewajk; 2014 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Economic Development J. W. Pietrewicz; 2014 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Foreign Affairs K. Kacperczyk; 2014 – Undersecretary of State in Ministry of Culture and National Heritage M. Omilanowska; 2014 – Secretary of State in Ministry of State Treasury Z. Gawlik (twice); 2014 – Secretary of State in Ministry of Environment M. Korolec; 2013 – Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Sikorski; 2011 – Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Sikorski; 2010 – Prime Minister Donald Tusk; 2004 – Speaker of the Sejm J. Oleksy; 2003 – Prime Minister L. Miller; 2003 – Speaker of the Senat L. Pastusiak; 1998 – President A. Kwaśniewski; 1994 – President L. Wałęsa; to Poland: 2019 – Deputy Minister of External Affairs T.S. Tirumurti; 2017 – Vice president M.H. Ansari; 2016 – Deputy Minister of Agriculture S.K. Pattanayak; 2016 – Deputy Minister of External Affairs S. Mehta; 2016 – Deputy Minister of Coal A. Swarup; 2015 – Deputy Minister of Commerce and Industry A. Kant; 2013 – Minister of Steel B. P. Verma; 2013 – Minister of Environment J. Natarajan; 2013 – Secretary of State in Ministry of External Affairs P. Kaur; 2012 – Minister of Information and Broadcasting A. Soni; 2011 – Minister of Coal P. Jaiswal; 2009 – President P. Patil; 2006 – Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs A. Sharma; 2006 – Minister of Commerce and Industry K. Nath; 2004 – Minister of National Defence P. Mukherjee; 2002 – Speaker of Lok Sabha M. Joshi; 2002 – Minister of State in Ministry of External Affairs O.F. Abdullah; 1996 – Minister of Coal Kanti Singh .

The following economic agreements exist between the Republic of Poland and the Republic of India: Agreement on telecommunications exchange concluded between the Government of the Polish People’s Republic and the Government of the Republic of India of September 29, 1956; Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Republic of India regarding shipping cooperation of June 27, 1960; Agreement on economic cooperation between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of India of May 7, 1970; The Second Economic Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of India of November 16, 1962; Third Economic Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of India of January 25, 1965; Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Republic of India on air transport from 25.01.1977; Agreement on economic, industrial and technical cooperation between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Republic of India of January 25, 1977; Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the Republic of India on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of tax evasion with respect to taxes on income from June 21, 1989; Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of India on cooperation in the field of science and technology of January 12, 1993; Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of India on the promotion and protection of investments from October 7, 1996; Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of India regarding cooperation in the field of defense of March 17, 2003; Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of Republic of India on economic cooperation of May 19, 2005; Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of India on cooperation in the field of tourism of September 24, 2009.

In 2016, trade between Poland and India increased by 25% year on year and amounted to USD 2.77 billion reaching the highest level in 6 years. Polish exports to India increased by 44% to USD 669 million and imports by 20% to USD 2.09 billion. The balance of trade turnover was negative for Poland and amounted to -1.43 billion USD. The most important items of Polish exports to India were mechanical devices, including turbojets, turboprops and gas turbines worth USD 187 million; base and non-precious metal products, including razors for USD 108 million; mineral products worth USD 95 million and vehicles, aircraft and vessels worth USD 70 million. Imports from India are primarily chemical industry products worth USD 736 million (over 1/3 of total imports), materials and textiles worth USD 404 million, mechanical and electrical equipment worth USD 165 million and base products and non-precious metal products worth USD 148 million. Important changes can be seen in trade in agricultural products. In 2016, export of fresh apples from Poland reached the value of USD 1.44 million, which is an increase of almost 250% compared to 2015. It is worth noting that in 2014 exports in this category were many times lower and amounted to only USD 12,000. It can be expected that the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture of India on November 3, 2016 regarding the recognition of the cooling method as an alternative to fumigation with methyl bromide will allow a further, significant increase in the volume of fresh apple exports, and possibly pears and quinces. The exporters of poultry chicks noted an even bigger increase by as much as 648%. The value of sales amounted to USD 1.49 million as compared to USD 0.23 million in 2015. The decisions taken by Indian authorities regarding the recognition of Polish certificates for milk, fish and animal fodder products and advanced negotiations regarding recognition of certificates for pork and poultry meat will allow an increase in exports of other food products from Poland to India. Other important items of Poland’s exports to India include: peas (USD 340 thousand, no exports in previous years); spreads containing cocoa (USD 300,000, a significant decrease compared to previous years, from USD 1.15 million in 2015 and USD 3.98 million in 2014); potato starch (USD 237,000); sugar syrups (USD 225,000); and bran (186,000 USD). The most important agricultural products imported to Poland from India in 2016 were tobacco worth USD 37.8 million; tea worth USD 17.9 million; extracts and essences of coffee and tea worth USD 15.6 million (an increase by 59% in comparison with 2015); shrimp (9.8 million USD); grapes (USD 8.9 million); dried onion (USD 8.2 million), sesame seeds (USD 8 million) and pepper (USD 6.3 million). The first half of 2017 saw a drop in Polish exports to India by 5%, with an increase in imports, by 6% year on year. During this period, the most important export items were coke and semi-coke as well as retort coal with a value of USD 51.4 million and synthetic rubber for USD 25.8 million. There was a notable increase in the export of Polish agri-food exports to India, including fresh apples, by 112%. Imports to Poland from India, on the other hand, were dominated by organic chemicals valued at USD 257.7 million, although the value of these imports decreased by 20% compared to the first half of 2016.

The value of Polish foreign direct investments in India in 2015 amounted to USD 235.8 million.

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Poland and India cooperate in the field of culture on the basis of an Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Republic of India on Cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Education and Higher Education. Traditions of cooperation in the field of culture between Poland and India date back to the 19th century, when Sanskrit and Hindi were taught at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Since then, the Polish school of indology has educated many outstanding world-renowned specialists. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in New Delhi supports cooperation in the field of culture by organizing events, study visits and supporting Polish-Indian projects.

Academic and scientific cooperation between Poland and India is supervised by NAWA – National Agency for Academic Exchange Moreover, Polish higher education institutions and the Embassy of Poland in New Delhi execute their independent projects. Main areas of joint activities with India are as follows:

1) Student exchange,

2) Bilateral exchange between higher education institutions,

3) Joint calls for proposals, both bilateral and multilateral,

4) Study and promotional visits,

5) Courses of Polish language.

Ad. 1) In a last few years a number of Indian students in Poland has grown exponentially. While in 2013 there were less than 500 Indian students in Poland, in 2018 the number was more than 3700; currently Indians are the third largest minority among students in Poland (after Ukrainians and Belarusians). Thanks to the favorable conditions offered by the Polish universities, constant expansion of the scholarships opportunities and NAWA’s promotional activities it is expected that one will see continuation of the inflow of Indian students to Poland.

Ad. 2) According to data of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Poland there are 70 existing Memorandums of Understanding between Polish and Indian higher education institutions. Their subjects range from students and scientists exchange to participation in European Union programs (Erasmus+, Erasmus Mundus) to internships, cooperation with research institutes, etc.

Ad. 3) On June 14 NAWA and DST opened call for joint proposals that may by submitted by August 14, 2019, detailed information is available here. Moreover Polish research institutes and companies take part in European Union calls for proposals under the Horizon 2020 program.

Ad. 4) The Embassy of Poland in New Delhi arranges study visits of Indian scientist to Poland with the aim of promotion of Polish perspective end expertise in the researched areas as well as expansion of further academic cooperation in all fields. Promotional visits to India are organized jointly by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, NAWA and Polish NGOs with the proactive support of the Embassy of Poland in New Delhi. Apart from that also individual higher education institutions and scientist are actively exploring bilateral collaboration opportunities.

Ad. 5) Currently two higher education institutions in India: Delhi University and Manipal Academy of Higher Education offer courses of Polish language. Classes are conducted by professional teachers from Poland and they are perfect opportunity to learn language, Polish history and culture.