Glimpses of PM Modi’s Poland trip as he leaves for historic visit to Ukraine - Photos

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrived in the 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 Modi-Tusk talks, the two sides unveiled a five-year "Action Plan" (2024-2028) 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.

In his remarks, Modi said the social security agreement will promote the mobility of the workforce and ensure their welfare.

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

Tusk said Poland wants to expand its defence cooperation with India. "We are ready to take part in the modernisation of military equipment."

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

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 PM 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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met with Polish President Andrzej Duda and discussed ways to deepen bilateral ties and bolster commercial and cultural linkages between the countries.

"Happy to have met President @AndrzejDuda in Warsaw. We had an excellent discussion on ways to deepen India-Poland ties. India greatly values the warm relations with Poland. We look forward to boosting commercial and cultural linkages between our nations in the times to come," Modi said in a post on X after the meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Warsaw.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a monument dedicated to the unknown soldiers who have given their lives for Poland. It is one of many such national tombs of unknowns erected after World War I, and the most important monument in Poland.

PM Modi had a "fruitful" exchange of views with a group of prominent Polish Indologists here and he deeply appreciated their work on Indian culture, language and arts as well as their efforts in strengthening cultural ties between the two countries.

The group of Indologists included Prof Maria Christopher Byrski, Prof Monika Browarczyk, Prof Halina Marlewicz, Prof Danuta Stasik and Prof Przemyslaw Szurek.

PM Modi also met with Gawel Lopinski, CEO of Billenium Pvt Ltd, a prominent Polish IT company with a notable presence in Pune.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted India’s growth story propelled by a favourable investment climate and the ‘Make in India’ program, the MEA said.

He enquired about his expansion plans and mentioned the significant opportunities for business collaboration between India and Poland in the field of new and emerging technologies, AI, cybersecurity and digital economy, it said.

PM Modi leaves for Ukraine

After concluding his two-day "productive" trip to Poland, the Indian PM left for a historic visit to Ukraine.

Modi, who is visiting Ukraine at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said that he will share with the Ukrainian leader perspectives on peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict.

His visit to Kyiv comes nearly six weeks after his high-profile trip to Moscow which triggered criticism from the US and some of its Western allies.

This is the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine since the country became independent in 1991.