PM Modi to begin three-day visit to Poland, Ukraine from August 21 | India News

Modi’s visit to Ukraine comes close on the heels of his visit to Russia in July. Back then, Zelenskyy had described the meeting as a ‘huge disappointment’. Meanwhile, Modi and Zelenskyy had met only a couple of months ago in June on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy. They had also met last year on the margins of the G7 Summit in Japan.

Over the past two years, India has resisted Western pressure to discontinue crude oil purchases from traditional partner Russia. Discounts on a steady stream of Russian crude have led to India’s crude oil import bill shrinking by 15.9 per cent to $132.4 billion in FY24 (2023-24), down from $157.5 billion in the previous year, even as import volumes remained the same.

Meanwhile, India’s trade with the embattled country has dwindled since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022. Trade had reached a high of $3.38 billion in FY22. At $2 billion, the vast majority of this trade comprised sunflower seed oil imports, which continues to be the largest import item from the nation.

India had hitherto relied on Ukraine, the world’s largest traditional producer of the cooking oil, for shipments. But the war forced the government to reach out to Russia, the second-largest producer of sunflower oil, as domestic edible oil prices quickly climbed to historic highs in May-June 2022. New Delhi had sought a special carveout or concessional rates for shipments after Russia placed quotas on the exports of sunflower oil. As of FY24, Russia was the largest source of the cooking oil for India.

Business ties with Poland

The visit to Poland marks the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in the last 45 years as the country becomes an important fulcrum of Indian trade and investment in the Central European region. Poland is currently the sixth-largest economy in the European Union (EU) and will hold the next presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Poland, the visit will seek to increase Indian presence in a key European economy that is positioning itself as a low-cost manufacturing and logistics hub in the continent.

The talks are set to include greater cooperation in defence, as well as more bilateral business ties in information technology, pharmaceuticals, and automotive manufacturing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) officials said. The country is already home to ‘near-shoring’ operations of Indian IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Infosys, and Wipro.

Manufacturing units of pharma company Ranbaxy, Berger Paints, and automotive and equipment manufacturer Escorts, among others, have also come up in the past decade. Officials said the country is keen to attract more Indian investments and has pitched itself as a technology-driven but cheap manufacturing destination in Europe. In February, telecom gearmaker HFCL announced plans to set up an optical fibre cable plant in the country.

On the other hand, foreign direct investment from Poland is the 34th-largest among nations at $712 million. On Monday, Secretary (West) Tanmaya Lal pointed out that nearly 30 Polish companies have a business presence in India. India has a positive trade balance with Poland, bolstered by a diversified export basket.

In tandem, the number of Indian nationals in Poland has increased to 25,000. This includes 5,000 students, many of whom chose to study in Poland after being evacuated from neighbouring Ukraine in 2022.

First Published: Aug 20 2024 | 7:50 PM IST