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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's expected visit to India will send a strong signal to business partners and stakeholders that cooperation between the two countries has the "green light", Poland's Ambassador to India Piotr Antoni Switalski said on Thursday.
Speaking at an event in the national capital, Switalski on Tusk's impending visit to India said, "We are very much for his visit. I think it was informally announced that there are plans. It is the continuation of our political dialogue." "Prime Minister Modi was in Poland in 2024; they signed the strategic partnership. It will be the third visit, I think, of Prime Minister Tusk to India... like many foreign leaders, he's very fond of coming to India. He loves India," he added. The ambassador said preparations for the visit were underway and expressed hope that it would further strengthen bilateral ties. "I hope very much that the visit will take place, and we are now in the process of preparing it properly. And I hope very much that it will send the right signal, in particular to our business partners and partners in different fields of cooperation, that at the highest level, the light is green, the signal is go ahead, full speed," he said. On India-Poland defence cooperation, Switalski said both governments and companies have started serious discussions and hoped for concrete outcomes. "We are starting very serious discussions between both the government representatives and the companies, and I hope very much that we will have some results," he said. He added that a Polish government delegation was expected to visit India the following week to discuss aspects of defence cooperation. "We are expecting, next week, a delegation from our government to discuss these aspects of our cooperation," he said. Meanwhile, PM Modi had visited Poland in August 2024, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country in 45 years. The visit coincided with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of India-Poland diplomatic relations. During the visit, India and Poland elevated their ties to the level of a strategic partnership and issued a joint statement outlining cooperation across various sectors. The two countries also finalised a five-year action plan for 2024-2028 to guide bilateral collaboration in areas including trade and investment, health, transport, cyber security, science and technology, defence and cultural exchanges. PM Modi and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also agreed to strengthen cooperation in multilateral forums and reaffirmed their commitment to a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific in accordance with international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The two leaders expressed "deepest concern" over the ongoing Ukraine conflict and its "terrible and tragic humanitarian consequences", while reiterating the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter, respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Ministry of External Affairs had described PM Modi's Poland visit as "historic and very successful", noting that both sides had decided to further expand cooperation under the strategic partnership framework. (ANI)
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