Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Poland on August 21, reports say. This will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the Central European country since Morarji Desai's trip in 1979.
Modi's one-day visit to Poland, scheduled for August 21, will come en route to his trip to Ukraine, reports said. Former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had visited the country before Desai.
Modi will be in Warsaw and hold bilateral talks with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk, according to a report in the Print citing sources. The focus of PM Modi's trip would be on defence and strategic alignment.
The report states that apart from the bilateral meeting, the prime minister will also visit the monuments of the Maharajas of Jamnagar and Kolhapur, who sheltered thousands of Polish refugees during World War II.
India-Poland Tires
India and Poland share a long-standing friendly relationship, marked by high-level political contacts and vibrant economic engagement, according to the website of the Embassy of India in Poland. Diplomatic relations were established in 1954, leading to the opening of the Indian Embassy in Warsaw in 1957. During the communist era, bilateral relations were close and cordial, with frequent high-level visits, including that of then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1955.
Earlier this year, India appointed a defence attaché to Poland.
Modi meets Volodymyr Zelenskyy
After Poland, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Ukraine on August 23. During the visit, PM Modi will meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.
This would be the prime minister's first visit to Ukraine since the war with Russia. It comes days after PM Modi visited Russia and met President Vladimir Putin during a two-day visit to Moscow on July 8-9, 2024. PM Modi was invited by Putin to the 22nd India-Russia annual summit.
Zelenskyy had reacted sharply to Prime Minister Modi's visit to Russia and his meeting with Putin. In a post on X, Zelenskyy referred to the Russian attack that day, which killed at least 37 people, including three children, after a rocket attack on a children's hospital in Kiev.
Prime Minister Modi received Russia's highest civilian award, the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, from Putin for distinguished services in promoting bilateral ties between the two countries. Putin said the award was a “testimony of Russia's sincere gratitude” for Modi's “significant contribution” to strengthening ties between the two countries.
