India & Poland elevate ties to strategic partnership, ink social security pact

Warsaw: India and Poland on Thursday upgraded their ties to the level of a "strategic partnership" and inked a social security pact to promote the mobility of skilled workers following wide-ranging talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk.

In the meeting, both sides vowed to significantly expand the bilateral defence and security ties with Tusk expressing Warsaw's eagerness to be a key partner in New Delhi's aim to boost domestic defence production and modernise its armed forces.

Modi arrived in this Polish capital on Wednesday, in the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Poland in nearly half a century. In the second leg of his two-nation trip, Modi will be in Kyiv for around seven hours on Friday.

Following the talks, the two sides unveiled a five-year "Action Plan" for the India-Poland strategic partnership identifying a range of areas including defence, trade, agri-tech, energy, green technologies, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and mining for cooperation.

"This year we celebrate 70 years of our diplomatic relations. On this occasion, we have decided to reshape our relationship into a strategic partnership," Modi said in his media statement.

"Today we have identified several initiatives to give a new direction to our relations," he said.

The prime minister said the social security agreement will promote the mobility of the workforce and ensure their welfare.

Modi also thanked Poland for facilitating the evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine after the conflict began in 2022.

In his remarks, Tusk said Poland wants to expand its defence cooperation with India.

"We are ready to take part in the modernisation of military equipment," he said.

A joint statement said both sides recognised the need to strengthen and deepen cooperation in the defence sector.

To this end, they agreed to fully utilise existing bilateral mechanisms, including the Joint Working Group for Defence Cooperation.

The two leaders underscored that as the world's two largest democracies, the EU and India have a common interest in ensuring security, prosperity and sustainable development in a multi-polar world, the joint statement said.

"They reaffirmed their commitment to deepen India-EU strategic partnership, which would not only benefit both sides but also have a far-reaching positive impact globally," it said.

It said the two leaders expressed their commitment to peace and rules-based international order with the UN Charter at its core.

Modi and Tusk agreed that cooperation in the sphere of security in its multiple dimensions is vital during serious conflicts and tensions in various regions of the world.

"They reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral, regional, and international cooperation for a more stable, prosperous, and sustainable world," the statement said.

The two prime ministers decided to enhance collaboration at multilateral forums to promote respect for rules-based international order and maintain global peace, stability, and security.

The two leaders reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and emphasised that no country should provide a safe haven to those who finance, plan, support or commit terrorist acts.

Both sides stressed the need for firm implementation of relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, as well as the implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.

"They also reaffirmed the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)," the statement said.

Acknowledging the critical role of digitalisation in economic and social development, both sides agreed to bolster bilateral cooperation in this field, including in cybersecurity, to enhance stability and trust between the two countries.

In his remarks, Modi said both sides agreed that reform in the United Nations and other international institutions is the need of the hour to face various global challenges.

"Terrorism is a big challenge for us. More such cooperation is necessary between countries like India and Poland which believe in humanity," he said.

"Similarly, climate change is a matter of shared priority for us. We both will work for a green future by combining our capabilities," he said.

"Poland will assume the presidency of the European Union in January 2025. I am confident that your cooperation will strengthen the relations between India and the EU," he added.

Modi also talked about Poland's expertise in the field of food processing.

"We want Polish companies to join the Mega Food Parks being built in India. Rapid urbanisation in India is opening up new opportunities for our cooperation in areas such as water treatment, solid waste management, urban infrastructure," he said.

"Clean coal technology, green hydrogen, renewable energy, and artificial intelligence are also our common priorities. We invite Polish companies to join Make in India and Make for the world," he said.

Modi said India has achieved many achievements in areas such as fin-tech, pharma and space and it will be happy to share the experience with Poland.