VICE PRESIDENT OF INDIA CONCLUDES PRODUCTIVE VISIT TO POLAND
The Vice President of India, Mr M. Hamid Ansari concluded a highly productive 3-day official visit to Poland from 26 to 28 April, 2017. The visit included a warm and intense dialogue with the Polish leadership, an address at a business summit, a public lecture on ‘Seven Decades of Indian Democracy’ , interaction with the Indian community and the formal inauguration of a new Embassy of India complex in Warsaw.
The visit was hosted by the Prime Minister of Poland, Ms. Beato Szydlo. In extensive conversations, both leaders expressed optimism about the state of Indo-Polish cooperation in all spheres. An important agreement on cooperation in agriculture was signed on the occasion, by Mr. Giriraj Singh, Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises from the Indian side and Mr. Krzysztof Jurgiel, Minister for Agriculture from the Polish side. The Prime Minister and the Vice President also co-chaired a well-attended Indo Polish business summit in Warsaw. PM Szydlo said that India was one of the top five markets on Poland’s radar. She also said that direct air links between India and Poland would commence soon, giving a further impetus to business. The Vice President noted the rapid growth of bilateral trade, which touched US $ 2.7 billion dollars last year, and encouraged business leaders to broaden cooperation in new sectors of promise like coal mining food processing and defence.
The meeting with Polish President Mr Andrzej Duda touched upon the global situation, bilateral cooperation in multilateral fora and in the defence sphere, particularly in terms of opportunities for Polish defense companies to make in India. The Vice President warmly invited President Duda to visit India. The President accepted the invitation with pleasure.
In a meeting with the Marshal of the Polish Senate, the Vice President held discussions on parliamentary cooperation and mentioned opportunities for cooperation in newer areas like education, given the increasing number of Indian students to Poland suggests.
Emphasising the importance of people-to-people contacts, the Vice President announced that a ‘Festival of India’ would be held in Poland later in the year, to give a taste of India’s rich and diverse culture, especially to Polish youth.
Vice President Ansari also inaugurated the new Embassy of India complex in the heart of Warsaw. The newly constructed Embassy complex, spread over nearly, 10,000 sq meters of prime land in Warsaw, is located right opposite the world famous Lazienki Park.
