Transcript of Special Briefing by Secretary (West) on Prime Minister’s visit to Poland (August 22, 2024)

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I warmly welcome you to this Special Press Briefing on the visit of Prime Minister to Poland. We have with us, for the Special Briefing, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Tanmaya Lal. Also joining us on the dais is Additional Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Shri Arun Kumar Sahu. With that, I invite Secretary (West) to make his opening remarks. Sir, over to you.

Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West): Thank you, Randhir. As all of you know, Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is completing his official visit to Poland and he was here at the invitation of Prime Minister, His Excellency Donald Tusk. The visit has been historic and very successful; historic, since this was after 45 years that an Indian Prime Minister was visiting Poland and also this year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

During the visit, extensive discussions were held between the leadership. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi also called on His Excellency President Duda earlier today. One of the main aspects of the visit has been that both the countries have decided to take their relationship to the level of strategic partnership. And in this context, a Joint Statement has been released and an Action Plan has been finalized. So, there have been multiple aspects or areas where the two countries have decided to cooperate even further. Some of the areas that are of focus in this relationship are, for example, economic sector. As you would know, India is the fifth largest economy now and Poland is the sixth largest economy within the European Union. Poland is a very, very important partner for India in this region. Poland will also be holding the Presidency of the European Union Council next year. India-EU relations are also extensive as some of you would be knowing that there are negotiations ongoing on finalizing an India-EU FTA. And last year, India and EU had set up the Trade and Technology Council, which is already doing very substantive work. So both in the bilateral aspect, regional aspect and multilateral aspects, the relationship is extensive and this visit; and the discussions provide a useful impetus for this partnership going forward.

I would also make reference to some of the program elements. Yesterday, Prime Minister had visited two Memorials. One was for the Memorial for the very, very special episode in our shared people-to-people contacts when he visited the Memorial for Jam Sahib of Navanagar. He also visited the Kolhapur Memorial; and I am sure you would be aware that this refers to an episode during 1940s when during World War II, 6,000 Polish women and children found refuge in India. Jam Sahib of Navanagar gave shelter to almost 1,000 Polish women and children, and also in Kolhapur. The Prime Minister also laid a wreath at the Monument of the Battle of Monte Cassino, where both Indian and Polish troops had fought together and this was also a very special moment.

Yesterday evening, there was a community event, where the Prime Minister met members of the Indian diaspora who welcomed him very enthusiastically and with great warmth. This morning, there was a Ceremonial Welcome at the Chancellery, followed by first a Restricted Meeting and then the Delegation Level Talks. Prime Minister Modi also laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and this was followed by the call on the President. The Prime Minister has also been meeting some of the business leaders from Poland who have business presence in India.

The Action Plan that has been agreed to focuses on various aspects of cooperation. For instance, in the political dialogue and security cooperation, how to catalyze the trade and investment, areas like climate, energy, mining, science and technology, transport and connectivity, the fight against terrorism, cyber security, health and people-to-people ties and cultural cooperation. These are the bilateral elements and then there is reference to the India-EU relations.

So, both sides agreed for the need for regular high-level contacts; strengthening the economic relations in a range of sectors ranging from agriculture, food processing, clean technology, connectivity, mining, renewable energy and AI and digital areas. The importance of connectivity has been highlighted and the two sides also agreed to continue the cooperation in the field of defence. An important development was also that there has been an understanding reached to finalize a Social Security Agreement which will be of importance for the professionals that are working in each other's countries.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: With that, we open the floor for some questions. Please do identify yourself before you ask one.

Sahil:Sir, I am Sahil Pandey from ANI News Agency, regarding the Social Security Agreement, any plan of action or roadmap in this regard, because you said understanding has been reached regarding this, so any details if you can share?

Patryk:Thank you very much Patryk Kugiel, Polish Institute of International Affairs. It was a historical visit indeed. We are very grateful and happy that both countries agreed to elevate the relationship to the strategy partnership level. And my question is what will be the follow-up? Do you expect any high-level re-visit from Poland to India in coming months, maybe President or Prime Minister of Poland? Have you discussed this issue? And also additionally, have you discussed the question of reform of the global institutions, including the UN Security Council? Did you hear a clear support from Poland when it comes to the question of full permanent membership for India at the Security Council? Thank you.

Thomas: Thomas [Inaudible]. I'm an Asia-Pacific correspondent for Polish media. Well, I would like to join Patryk at asking this question about the high-level meetings and what sort of meetings are envisioned in the next several months. Whether there will be a meeting in November of the economic delegation? Who would from the Polish side come to India? Whether that's agreed? And then a similar question regarding Mr. Tusk and Mr. Sikorski and also President Duda's possible visits in the months to come. But the other question would be about the defence cooperation that you mentioned. What that would entail exactly? What sort of cooperation that would be? Whether that would entail also space cooperation? Whether there have been any talks about satellite launches, for example, for Poland from India? Thank you.

Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West): Well, as I mentioned, there has been an understanding which has been reached on the Social Security Agreement. And you'll have to wait for the Agreement to be signed, and which we expect will be done in the coming short time. And that will really facilitate the issues relating to the professionals working in each other's countries.

UN reform is one of the issues that was discussed. This is an important issue for the global situation. And this was definitely discussed. I will not go into further details. High-level meetings, well, the series of high-level meetings have been continuing. It is not as if this was a... so, for example, this year alone, there have been interactions between our Foreign Ministers earlier in the year, in February, when External Affairs Minister had met Foreign Minister Sikorski at the Munich Security Conference. The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bartoszewski had visited India. There have been other high-level contacts that have been ongoing. I think the then Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau had visited India in 2022.

Patryk:Sir, if I could make it a little bit more precise, regarding the meetings in the pipeline. So, what will be the next high-level meeting that is actually being discussed right now?

Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West): So, I was wanting to convey that there is a series of ongoing meetings. Also, in the context of the strategic partnership, it was agreed that the high-level meetings will continue. And we should expect a high-level visit in the coming months and the time forthcoming.

Speaker: Prime Minister Modi, did he receive any invite to Poland for the next year? Are you aware of that?

Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West):I will not like to go in more details. You will come to know when the meetings are announced and the other visits.

On defence, we have a long-standing Agreement and there is a Working Group which meets. So, the Working Group will continue to explore opportunities that exist in the different sector for both sides.

Space is also one of the areas that there is potential collaboration. And the upcoming business delegations, especially in the high-technology areas, will lay the groundwork for space and other sectors of collaboration.

Sahil:Sir Sahil again from ANI. Was there any discussion and if you could share some details regarding the conflict which is happening in the neighborhood, was there any discussion regarding that?

Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West): Yes, of course, there was discussion on the situation in Ukraine and Prime Minister stressed the Indian consistent position on this. For example, Prime Minister had said that there cannot be a solution on the battlefield, that only dialogue and diplomacy can lead to a peaceful resolution of the conflict and that India stands ready to work with friends and stakeholders to contribute to resolving the situation, and any loss of innocent lives is really a concern and the conflict has aspects of concern for all of us.

Thomas:So, in the bigger scheme of things, I think that would be for you, Jaiswal ji. What is the most important takeaway and perhaps some surprise and then what is the most important part of the relationship with Poland that you are just crafting right now? So, surprise, takeaways and the most important thing about the relationship, from Indian perspective obviously.

Shri Tanmaya Lal, Secretary (West): As I said, this was a historic visit and the most visible outcome is the fact that both countries have decided to make this a strategic partnership, which really is not just words, but it means that there is an extensive engagement between the two sides on a whole range of issues, not only in the bilateral sense, but also in the regional and international sense. I referred to the fact that if you look at the size of the economies of India and Poland now, India is the fifth largest economy, soon to become third largest. Poland is the sixth largest economy and again very dynamic and growing fast. If we look at the India-EU relations in this context; again, there are many, many important aspects going on in terms of trade, investment, agreements, critical technologies, etc. So, this is a relationship which has very, very diverse elements, also in terms of the engagement on global issues, both at the United Nations and other multilateral contexts. So, it is a very, very comprehensive partnership now and it has matured to a strategic partnership, and there is full intention on both sides to take it forward in a more concrete sense in different areas that I enumerated earlier.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson:Thank you. Thank you, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, with that we come to the close of this Press Briefing. Stay tuned for further updates from us. Thank you.

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