India and Poland on Thursday agreed to deepen cooperation in defence, space and nuclear energy as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk focused on leveraging the economic growth of both countries to achieve the shared target of doubling trade from the current level of around $6 billion by 2030.
Modi described his discussions with Tusk as “excellent” and said on social media that the two leaders discussed bolstering cooperation in trade, investment, defence, nuclear energy, space and critical minerals. Regional and global issues also figured in the talks, and Indian officials said the Polish side appreciated India’s recent proposal for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire. In all these strategic sectors, we invite Polish companies to partner with India in co-development and co-production,” Modi said at a media interaction with Tusk. India and Poland, Modi said, have emerged as centres of growth and technology at a time of uncertainty and change. “Last year, Poland’s GDP crossed the historic milestone of $1 trillion…Meanwhile, India recorded an impressive growth rate of 7.8% in the last quarter,” he said, noting that the proposed India-European Union (EU) trade deal will open new opportunities for India to export machinery, chemicals, plastics and engineering goods to Poland. “At the same time, we will seek new investments from Poland in sectors such as railways and mobility, advanced manufacturing, food processing and biotechnology,” Modi said, adding that Tusk was accompanied by a large business delegation that would focus on developing trusted supply chains to achieve the shared goal of doubling trade by 2030. The two sides will also develop new partnerships in critical minerals and coal gasification using Polish expertise, and establish a bilateral “startup bridge” to build on cooperation in AI, cybersecurity and fintech, Modi said.
“Today, we agreed to deepen our cooperation in defence, space and nuclear energy.
Sibi George, secretary (West) in the external affairs ministry, told a media briefing that the two sides were working on an agreement on mutual protection and exchange of classified information that was expected to build on the growing trust between India and the EU in areas such as defence and technology. With both countries eyeing joint development and production of military gear, it was important to have agreements in place to ensure trust and confidentiality, he said. George said Poland was “very appreciative” of India’s approach to finding a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Modi’s recent call to Russian President Vladimir Putin to move from “endless war to the end of war”. He added that India had shared ideas with Russia and Ukraine, including the safety and security of commercial shipping, exports of grains and energy, and “non-attack possibilities”.
