Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Warsaw for the first leg of his two-nation visit to Poland and Ukraine. Before departing from India, PM Modi said that India hoped for an early return of peace and stability in the region as a “friend and partner”. Modi will first head to Poland on August 21, and then to Ukraine on August 23. This also marks the first-ever visit by an Indian PM to Poland in 45 years.
PM Modi’s Poland & Ukraine Visit
Why In News
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Warsaw for the first leg of his two-nation visit to Poland and Ukraine. Before departing from India, PM Modi said that India hoped for an early return of peace and stability in the region as a “friend and partner”. Modi will first head to Poland on August 21, and then to Ukraine on August 23. This also marks the first-ever visit by an Indian PM to Poland in 45 years.
Why Is PM Modi’s Visit To Poland Important
- PM Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Poland in 45 years, after Morarji Desai in 1979. His visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of India-Poland diplomatic relations, making it a momentous occasion.
- PM Modi’s talks with the Polish leadership are expected to include defence cooperation and boosting ties in information technology, pharmaceutical, and automotive manufacturing.
- One of the most important chapters in India-Poland relations dates back to World War II.
- Between 1942 and 1948, over 6,000 Polish women and children found refuge in India, particularly in the princely states of Jamnagar and Kolhapur. The then-Maharaja of Nawanagar, Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, played a key role in offering sanctuary to these refugees. His act of providing a safe haven for over a thousand Polish children, who had escaped the horrors of war, is remembered fondly in Poland to this day.
- Poland is one of the most important countries in Central Europe, being the sixth-largest economy within the European Union.
- Warsaw will also hold the next Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The bilateral trade between the two countries is estimated to be $6 billion, making Poland the largest trading partner of India in Central and Eastern Europe. India has investments worth $3 billion in Poland, while the latter has invested $1 billion.
- As per the MEA, a number of Indian companies have active business presence in Poland in sectors ranging from IT to pharmaceuticals to manufacturing to farm vehicles to electronics, steel, metals and chemicals. while Poland has 30 companies having a business presence in India. The Indian community in Poland has also increased to 25,000, including 5,000 students.
- It is also worth recalling that India had a “successful” rescue mission called “Operation Ganga” during the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. At that time, Poland had played a crucial role in the evacuation of more than 4,000 Indian students.
Significance Of PM Modi’s Visit To Ukraine
- Most eyes would be on PM Modi’s visit to Kyiv, which comes over a month after his trip to arch-nemesis Russia, where both sides sought to boost bilateral trade and cooperation in areas ranging from nuclear energy to medicine.
- Modi would become the first Indian leader ever to visit Ukraine after diplomatic relations were established in 1992 to renew his position that only dialogue and diplomacy will resolve the conflict.
- PM Modi will visit Kyiv after an invitation by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who termed his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin “a huge disappointment”.
- The PM’s engagements will touch a range of aspects of bilateral ties including political, trade, economic, investments, education, cultural, people-to-people exchanges, humanitarian assistance and others.
- PM Modi and Zelenskyy met at the G7 Summit in Italy, where the former said India is eager to further cement bilateral relations with Ukraine and advocated a peaceful solution to the ongoing conflict.
- Over the last few years, India has resisted pressure from the West to halt oil purchases from its traditional partner Russia. India has emerged as the biggest buyer of Russian seaborne oil sold at a discount as Western entities shun purchases due to a raft of sanctions imposed on Russian over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
- India had also previously relied on Ukraine for shipments of cooking oil, but was forced to shift to Russia after the war as domestic edible oil prices climbed to record highs.
- However, India has maintained its diplomatic tightrope walk by providing several consignments of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since March 2022 and expressing concerns over threats of nuclear war issued by Russian leaders. “This is not a zero-sum game,” said Lal, saying India’s relations with Russia and Ukraine stand on their own.
- PM Modi’s visit to the two countries can be seen as an attempt to boost India’s diplomatic ties with Europe to strengthen economic, cultural and political relations.
