India–Poland relations

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Poland–India relations
Map indicating locations of Poland and India

Poland
India
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of the Republic of Poland,
Chargé d’affaires Sebastian Domżalski
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Nagma Mallick

Indo-Polish relations are the

Republic of India
. Historically, relations have generally been friendly, characterised by understanding and cooperation on an international front.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at COP26 in Glasgow.

History

Origin: The Age of Discovery

During the 16th century

seafarer and diarist who provided a description of India preserved in Polish, recorded in a letter dated 1569 to an unknown person;[1][2] Pawłowski who came to India in 1569, left a rudimentary description of the sea route from Gdańsk via Portugal (Lisbon) to India (Goa) in the form of a comprehensive letter-relation to a friend in Kraków, in which described the customs of 'dark' people. A consequence of these voyages soon provided Indian echoes in Polish literature.[1]

As early as 1611, the Polish

Jesuit missionary Francisco Benci (1542-1594), who had stayed in India and later lectured at the Jesuit college in Pułtusk, Poland, where Stanislaw Grochowski was a professor.[1]

19th and early 20th centuries

During the 19th century, several Sanskrit classics were translated into Polish and a 'History of Ancient India' in Polish was one of the first of its kind to be published in Europe.[1] A Chair of Sanskrit was set up at the Jagiellonian University of Kraków in 1893. Studies and research in Indian languages and literature had developed at the Universities of Kraków, Warsaw, Wrocław and Poznań.

A consulate of Poland in Mumbai, an honorary consulate in Kolkata and a consular agency in Amritsar were established in 1933, 1935 and 1936, respectively, and the consulate in Mumbai was elevated to a consulate-general in 1939.[5]

World War II

Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji
at Skwer Dobrego Maharadży ("Square of the Good Maharaja") in Warsaw

Maharaja of Jodhpur commissioned to decorate the Umaid Bhawan Palace with a series of paintings, decorations and furniture designs. They were rediscovered in the 1990s.[6][11] Whilst staying in India during World War II, Norblin also painted portraits of the local aristocracy and decorated their residences.[11]

Indian prisoners of war were held by the Germans alike Polish and other Allied POWs in the Stalag XX-B and Stalag XXI-B POW camps located in Malbork and Tur, respectively.[12][13]

Poles and Indians were part of the large Allied coalition in the major battles of Tobruk (1941) and Monte Cassino (1944).[14][15]

Aid to Polish refugees in India

Maharaja Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja with Polish children on Christmas Eve

During the

orphaned children and women, out of some 5,000 refugees sent to India from Soviet deportation, and despite India itself suffering from a severe backdrop of drought and famine at that time.[16][17][18] After their ship and plight was turned away by every country approached and when the British Crown governor in Mumbai (Bombay) too refused them entry, the Maharaja Jam Sahib, frustrated by the lack of empathy and unwillingness of the British government to act, ordered the ship to dock at Rozi port in his province.[16][17] The displaced persons, lived in camps in several places in western India, including Balachadi (near Jamnagar), Valivade (near Kolhapur) and Panchgani.[16][17] Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji's unparalleled act of generosity, saw him become patron of the first public school complex founded in Poland after the Second World War, located in the capital of Warsaw, and named Jam Saheba Digvijay Sinhji in his honour.[16][17][19] In 2012, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland, honoured the 50th anniversary of his death, posthumously awarding the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and the Warsaw City Council named one of its city park squares in Ochota district after him - the 'Square of the Good Maharaja' (Skwer Dobrego Maharadży).[18][20]

Cold War

Pratibha Devisingh Patil and former President of Poland, Lech Kaczyński, delivering a press statement after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between India & Poland at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw
, April 2009.

During the post-war period, when Poland became the Polish People's Republic under the Soviet Occupation Forces and Soviet-backed communist regime, Poland, then a state in the Eastern Bloc, was not a free agent to choose its destiny.[9] This relaxed after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. The international situation became less tense, and the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev took a liking to India's prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[9] In 1954, Poland and India formally agreed to establish resident diplomatic missions, and the Indian Embassy in Warsaw was opened in 1957, shortly after the 1956 Polish October revolution that marked a change in the politics of Poland.[9] During the Cold War period, both Warsaw and New Delhi had close ties with the Soviet Union and this made them natural friends. On 25 January 1977 an agreement on the operation of air services between the two countries was signed in New Delhi.[21]

One of the political emigrants who avoided returning to communist Poland was the renowned architect Maciej Nowicki. While he was a professor at the University of North Carolina, he was entrusted with designing the modern capital of Punjab. His plans were groundbreaking and could constitute a new quality in world urban planning. However, his project was never realized due to his untimely death in a plane crash on his way back from India to the United States on 31 August 1950. Nowicki was only 40 at the time. The work on the plan of Chandigarh was consequently entrusted to the world-renowned Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier.[22]

Post Cold War

Former Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk (left) and former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh (right) meet in New Delhi, September 2010.

Following the

Pratibha Devisingh Patil visited Poland.[6] In September 2010, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
visited India and met with Indian politicians and businessmen.

In May 2021, Poland donated over 1.5 tons of medical equipment including oxygen concentrators to India in response to a sharp rise of COVID-19 infections in India.[23]

Trade, investment, defence and the economy

Former Secretary, Ministry of Steel, India, G. Mohan Kumar and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Poland, Janusz Piechociński, strengthening ties between India and Poland, in Warsaw, October 2013.

Economic ties

Bilateral trade between the two countries has grown about eleven times from 1992 to 2008.

Videocon have already set up their bases in Poland.[26] The 'Indo-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry'(IPCCI) was formed in 2008 under the astute leadership of Mr Jowahar Jyothi Singh(JJ Singh) to protect and represent the interests within the range of economic activity and to promote economic relations between India and Poland.[26] Direct nonstop flights provided by LOT Polish Airlines between Warsaw Chopin Airport and Indira Gandhi International Airport started September 12, 2019.[27]

Both countries have a long-standing history of cooperation in science and technology. The first Indo-Polish Agreement on this cooperation was signed in March 1974; subsequently, a new agreement with more focus Programmes of Cooperation (POC) in science and technology were signed between the two countries from time to time. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) have ongoing scientific exchange programs with the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS).[6]

Defence ties

General Zbigniew Głowienka, Commander of the Polish Land Forces, in New Delhi in 2010

India's defence relations with Poland have grown from military cooperation to comprehensive defence cooperation that includes courses, training for

T-72M1 with 800 horsepower engines were upgraded with 1000 hp engines and re-equipped with modern fire control systems (DRAWA-T [pl]) and thermal imaging equipment. Both India and Poland are considering privatising their defence industries and see good prospects for mutual investments.[29] Indian Army chief General Deepak Kapoor visited Warsaw in March 2008 followed by Poland's Deputy Foreign Minister Ryszard Schnepf in June the same year.[30] India also acquired 625 assault parachutes from the Polish company Air-Pol with automatic devices ensuring their reliable opening, with a total value of US$1.5 million. India's growing defence buy-outs from Poland has disappointed Russia which had considered India a safe market for its military hardware.[31] Poland also delivered a batch of 80 WZT-3 armoured recovery vehicles (ARVs) to the Indian Army in 2001 at the Kolar Gold Fields facility in Karnataka and the remaining batch in 2004. The final batch of 40 WZT-3 ARVs were assembled in India from kits supplied from Poland.[32]

Resident diplomatic missions
  • Embassy of India in Warsaw
    Embassy of India in Warsaw
  • Embassy of Poland in New Delhi
    Embassy of Poland in New Delhi

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9789068317015
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 9788173049514
    .
  3. ^ Okolski, Szymon (1641–1645). "Orbis Polonus splendoribus coeli, triumphis mundi, pulchritudine animantium condecoratus, in quo antiqua Sarmatorum gentiliata pervetusta nobilitatis insignia etc. specificantur et relucent" [Polish Encyclopedia of the ancient Sarmatian families, the history of the coats of arms of the nobles of Poland old and new, their origin as awards for honorable deeds & the arms themselves specifically described and emblazoned]. Biblioteka Jagiellońska, Bj St. Dr. 589099 I (in Latin). III. Kraków: In Officina Typographica Francisci Cæsarii: 94–98.
  4. ^ Paprocki, Bartłomiej (1584). "Herby Rycerztwa Polskiego" [Coats of Arms of Polish Knights]. Sygnatura Oryginału: Xvi.f.4132 (in Polish and Latin). Kraków: Maciej Garwolczyk: 557–558.
  5. ISBN 978-83-65681-93-5
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  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Indo-Polish relations". Embassy of India in Poland. Archived from the original on 2003-10-31. Retrieved 2009-09-17.
  7. ^ Jacobs, Harrison (2 April 2015). "Gandhi's 1940 letter to Adolf Hitler: Seek peace or someone will 'beat you with your own weapon'". New York: Business Insider UK.
  8. ^ "Letters of note: Mohandas Gandhi's letter to Adolf Hitler, 1939. India's figurehead for independence and non-violent protest pleads with the leader of Nazi Germany". London: The Observer. 12 October 2013.
  9. ^ a b c d Bhutani, Surender (14 March 2018). "60 Years of Indo-Polish Relations : A Personal Reflection". Warsaw: Indo Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IPCCI).
  10. ^ "India and Poland: India-Poland Relations". Warsaw: Embassy of India in Poland & Lithuania. 3 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b Kępa, Marek (November 2012). "Stefan Norblin's Indian Inspirations — Image Gallery". Warsaw: Culture.pl - Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
  12. ISBN 978-83-950992-2-9
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  13. ISBN 978-83-958269-0-0
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  14. ^ "The Allied Armies in the Siege of Tobruk, 1941". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  15. ^ Polish Victory. Monte Cassino May 11–19, 1944. Warsaw: Wojskowy Instytut Wydawniczy. 2022. p. 2.
  16. ^ a b c d Jumde, Anandita (17 April 2016). "How One Maharaja Helped Save the Lives of 640 Polish Children and Women During World War II". Bangalore: The Better India, Vikara Media Pvt Ltd.
  17. ^ a b c d Wójcicka, Ewa. "Google Arts & Culture: 1939-1948 Passage to India, Polish settlements in Balachadi and Valivade". Warsaw: Polish History Museum.
  18. ^ a b Kowalska, Karolina (30 May 2016). "The Sejm commemorates the "Good Maharaja"". Warsaw: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  19. ^ Wójcicka, Ewa. "International Baccalaureate Organization: Jam Saheba Digvijay Sinhji". Geneva: IB Foundation, Geneva.
  20. ^ "Good Maharaja Sq opened in Warsaw". Warsaw: Radio Poland. 17 September 2012.
  21. ^ "Indo-Polish Agreement on Air Services" (PDF). Foreign Affairs Record. XXIII (1): 2. January 1977. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  22. ^ "Maciej Nowicki: A Passage to India » Krakow Post". 2012-06-14. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
  23. ^ "Polska dostarczy do Indii ponad 1,5 tony sprzętu medycznego". Dziennik Gazeta Prawna (in Polish). 7 May 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  24. ^ Chatterjee, Surojit (18 May 2006). "India, Poland to boost economic ties". IBTimes India. Archived from the original on 24 October 2006. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  25. ^ a b "POLISH ECONOMY-Foreign Trade". Confedaration of Indian Industry. Retrieved 2008-11-04.[permanent dead link]
  26. ^ a b "Polish companies seek closer ties with India". IANS. Economic Times. 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  27. ^ "Poland invites Indian investments with focus on SME sector". Business Daily from THE HINDU. January 15, 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  28. ^ "Indian Army chief to visit Poland, Belarus". NERVE. 7 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  29. ^ Raja Mohan, Chilamkuri (Mar 20, 2004). "India, Poland deepen defence ties". The Hindu. Archived from the original on April 13, 2004. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  30. ^ "India, Poland defence ties strengthening: Raju". Economics times of India. 16 Jun 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  31. ^ "Polish military monthly reports on Defexpo". Bharat Rakshak. 20 March 2002. Archived from the original on December 6, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-11.
  32. ^ "Indo-Polish Military Ties On The Upswing". Financial Express. May 19, 2003. Retrieved 2008-10-11.

External links

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