New Delhi: Development, security, and progress will be areas of key focus for the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union this year when it comes to India ties. Poland assumed the presidency on January 1, 2025, for a term of six months, and at a time when India and the EU look to firm up relationships in several areas, including speeding up trade pact talks. Later this year, India is expected to host the India EU summit.

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Speaking to WION, Poland’s Chargé d’affaires to India, Sebastian Domżalski, said, “With India, we want to work not only on security...Surksha, also development, Vikas and Pragati, very important to EU. We hope to have an EU-India summit later this year. India is a top priority in the EU at the moment, we have new EU authorities, aiming and fostering relationships with India, and hope EU-India summit will enable us to talk about important topics and the EU FTA being one of them.”

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Security will be the central focus of Poland’s presidency, particularly with the war in Ukraine entering the 3rd year. Domżalski pointed out, “It is a great moment for us as we look forward to strengthening the European Union, its security, its competitiveness, and also looking forward to working with India, our main, important partner.” 
This is the second time that Poland is holding the presidency of the EU Council, the first time was in 2011.

Apple is the official symbol of the Polish Presidency of the EU, something that was seen in good amount at a ceremony organised in Delhi by the Polish diplomatic mission. Speaking about the Polish apple, the CdA said, “Happy to have them in India and Indian fruit importers enjoying it.” 

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PM Narendra Modi had travelled to Poland last year, and it was the first visit by an Indian PM to the country in 45 years. This visit was part of celebrating 70 years of diplomatic relations between India and Poland, aiming to elevate the bilateral relationship to a “Strategic Partnership”. A five-year Action Plan for 2024-2028 was agreed upon, covering areas like political dialogue, security, economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, and more.

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