Poland in India

Minister Rau paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. Minister also met with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The official talks between Poland’s and India’s top diplomats provided an opportunity to discuss key issues in bilateral cooperation and to exchange views on the current regional and global problems, in particular Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine. The head of the Polish MFA presented Poland’s position as the OSCE chair on the security situation in Eastern Europe. The head of Polish diplomacy also emphasised that India is one of Poland’s key economic partners in Asia. The culminating point of the ministerial talks was the signing of a bilateral agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

On the second day of his visit to New Delhi, Minister Zbigniew Rau took part in the international Raisina Dialogue conference, considered to be India’s largest forum on key geopolitical and economic issues. This year’s edition, whose honorary guest was President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, focused on major challenges to the emerging new international order. During the conference, Minister Rau, as the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, presented the Organisation’s role in conflict resolution and Poland’s position on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, as well as on its international implications. The chief of Polish diplomacy also participated in a discussion panel titled “The Brussels Effect. Compass for a Strategic Europe,” along with his counterparts from Lithuania and Luxembourg and the representatives of UK’s Chatham House and US-based Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. The panel was devoted to the EU’s current condition, as well as Poland’s and Central Europe’s role in the European Union.

This year’s edition of the Raisina Dialogue conference was attended by, among others, foreign ministers of Argentina, Croatia, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Norway, Slovenia, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Nigeria, Armenia, Mauritius, Greece, Mexico, and Nepal. The United States was represented by USAID Administrator Samantha Power, National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral John Aquilino, and Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger.

At an official reception hosted by Ambassador of Poland to India Adam Burakowski in honour of Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Minister presented high Polish distinctions: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit was awarded to the Honorary Consul in Bangladesh Reshadur Rahman and a member of the Upper House of the Parliament of  Yuvraj Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati was honoured with the Bene Merito. 

The agenda of the visit to India also included an economic component, namely an online webinar and B2B talks promoting Polish-Indian cooperation in environmental technologies.

Minister also addressed the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service on Polish-Indian relations as well as challenges and opportunities of Polish Foreign Policy.

MFA Press

Photo: Sebastian Indra/MFA