India, Poland aim to boost bilateral trade to USD 10 billion during PM Tusk's visit: Former Polish envoy Adam Burakowski

New Delhi [India], October 22 (ANI): Former Polish Ambassador to India Adam Burakowski highlighted on Wednesday that Prime Minister Donald Tusk's visit to New Delhi aims to scale up bilateral trade between India and Poland from the existing USD 6 billion to USD 10 billion. Emphasising the economic significance of the trip, the first by a Polish Prime Minister to India in 16 years, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Poland two years ago, where a strategic partnership was signed, former Ambassador Adam Burakowski stated that the agenda is primarily focused on business, defence, and technology expansion. 'This visit is mainly on business and the big focus on business there will be one economic forum in Delhi and another one in Bengaluru. And there will be many MoUs signed between Polish and Indian companies. Also, there will be some more in-depth discussion about the cooperation in space and also in the defence sector. So it's mainly business because our goal is set by our ministers of foreign affairs, Radosaw Sikorski and Dr. Jaishankar, that our current yearly turnout of... of economic cooperation is around 6 billion USD. We have to make it up to 10 billion USD. And this is our goal, set by both foreign ministers,' Burakowski said. He noted that the India-EU Free Trade Agreement will serve as a crucial catalyst in driving this economic growth upward. 'The India-EU free trade agreement is a key instrument to achieve this goal because it's the biggest FTA that the European Union has signed with anybody and vice versa. So for India it's also a big opening of the market. And we hope that this document will be very instrumental in increasing our economic cooperation,' he added. Reflecting on the historical moment and expanding collaboration, Burakowski remarked, 'It is a truly blessed occasion to be invited to this event. Today is a very significant day because our Prime Minister is visiting-the first such visit since 2010. Furthermore, two years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Poland, where a strategic partnership was signed... What are we discussing right now is about trade, the defence sector and space technology. Recently, there was a mission that included two astronauts-one from Poland and the other from India. We can say that this is the start of a new era.' Underlining the growing global stature of India and the momentum behind the bilateral relationship, Micha Matlak, Director of the UKASIEWICZ-ITECH Institute of Innovation and Technology, pointed to deeper institutional and academic tie-ups between both nations. 'It's a sign of a broader process that is happening in Poland. It started already a few years ago. In 2024, Prime Minister Modi was in Poland, and he upgraded the Polish-Indian relationship to a strategic one. And now the Prime Minister is here to even strengthen and to give some kind of meaning to this partnership,' Matlak said. 'It is important for us because of the importance of India, and the fact that India's role in world affairs is now very meaningful. Its economy and also tech are an important inspiration, and the institutes which are here are important partners for us-IIT, CSIR, startups also, and startup culture... This will give us lots of opportunities, and I will just finish by mentioning the Horizon program because on Friday an agreement was reached and India will join the Horizon programme, which means that Indian academics will be able to receive European money for research in cooperation with European partners,' he concluded. The remarks come as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in New Delhi for his scheduled visit on the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Ministry of External Affairs, announcing the Polish PM's arrival, extended him a warm welcome while expressing hopes for further strengthening of the bilateral partnership between the two nations.PM Tusk was received at the airport by Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Chaudhary. In a post on X, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote, 'A warm welcome to Prime Minister Donald Tusk @donaldtusk of Poland on his arrival in New Delhi. He was received at the airport by MoS @dr_rajbhushan. The visit will provide fresh impetus to the India-Poland Strategic Partnership and further deepen our longstanding ties.' According to MEA, during his second official visit to India as Prime Minister, following his 2010 trip, Polish PM Donald Tusk will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The leaders will review bilateral relations, which were elevated to a Strategic Partnership in August 2024, and discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest. Accompanied by Poland's Minister of Finance and Economy Andrzej Domanski and a major business delegation, Tusk will participate in the India-Poland Business Forum in New Delhi on Thursday before travelling to Bengaluru on October 23 to engage with IT and space sector leaders. (ANI)