Aware of Delhi’s close ties with Moscow, visiting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday that India and Poland have “no conflict of interest” and their pursuit of “shared goals” in the space industry, digitisation, satellites, state-of-the-art defence systems can deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries.Following their bilateral talks, Modi said, “Today we have agreed to deepen ties in defence, space and nuclear energy. We invite Polish companies to engage in co-development and co-production with India in all these strategic areas.”The two sides agreed to establish a defence industry dialogue and a counter-terrorism dialogue, two critical areas of strategic cooperation.Over the last five years, more so after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, two countries with which it shares a border in the north (the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad) and southeast, Poland has been ramping up its defence industry. Its drone and satellite imagery capabilities have been used by Ukraine against Russia.Polish drone and loitering munitions were also deployed by India during Operation Sindoor which led to hostilities with Pakistan in May 2025. In fact, Tusk referred to this when he said, “Our drones were very useful and have been very useful recently. And I am convinced that our cooperation, both in the area of satellites and drones, has helped our countries in times of political tensions and crises, and I am very proud of that.” He told Modi that Poland and India have become “real friends that can rely on one another in difficult times”.Must Read | India to back peace in Ukraine, West Asia: PM Modi talks with Polish counterpartRecalling his visit to Poland in 2024, Modi said, “During that visit, we elevated our relations to a Strategic Partnership. Based on this strong foundation, our partnership has gained new momentum over the past two years. And in today’s meeting with the Prime Minister, we have taken several important decisions to further strengthen our Strategic Partnership.”Referring to supply chains being threatened by China, Tusk said, “We are very much aware of the political threats and the need to become independent as much as possible in the areas of critical resources, minerals and strategic resources of any country to make sure that Poland, India and Europe are independent in those… I do hope and I do know that our cooperation in this area will be successful.”Held excellent talks with Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland.We reviewed the progress in our Strategic Partnership and discussed ways to further strengthen cooperation in:Trade and investment.Defence and space.Nuclear energy.Critical minerals.We also exchanged views on regional and global issues.@donaldtusk— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 22, 2026Mindful of India’s strategic and strong ties with Russia, he said, “Our discussions are very successful, not only because Poland and India are countries that share a lot, but we are divided by nothing, maybe by geographic distance. The synergies between Poland and India are quite simple. We have no conflict of interest. We have no historical issues that divide us. We are building our friendship based on trust, shared values and ideas such as the idea of non-violence. The great Polish revolution of solidarity was based on action without violence, and we were very much inspired by your tradition and your history.”Story continues below this adPraising Modi, Tusk said, “We value and appreciate the global role that you, Prime Minister, play in the global context, and this is a sign of hope in the times of destabilisation, uncertainty, political uncertainty, and instability. Somebody such as you, Prime Minister of such a powerful country as India, is a beacon of hope for all of us, and I am very, very proud, truly proud that I can call myself your friend, Mr Prime Minister.”He was referring to India’s proposal for a ceasefire in the Black Sea region, a move which has been welcomed by Russia, Ukraine and the US in the last few weeks.Modi said, “Be it Ukraine or West Asia, India will continue to support every meaningful effort towards peace.”Tusk said there has been unprecedented economic success and dynamic growth in the two countries in the last 35 years. “Let me put it straightforwardly and without any doubts and hesitation: The world looks upon us with envy,” he said.Story continues below this ad“Our plans are very ambitious, not only in traditional industries such as mining, gasification of coal, shipyard and shipbuilding, but we also have ambitious goals, shared goals of the space industry, digitisation, satellites, state-of-the-art defence system,” he said.Modi said, “Today, the world is going through a period of uncertainty and change. Even at this time, both India and Poland are emerging as important centres of growth, technology, and innovation.”“Last year, Poland’s GDP surpassed the historic milestone of one trillion dollars. I congratulate the Prime Minister for this. Meanwhile, India also recorded an impressive growth of 7.8% in the last quarter,” he said.“Our growing economic strength has created new opportunities for the India-Poland partnership. And the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement has further expanded these opportunities… This agreement will open up new opportunities for exports of machinery, chemicals, plastics, and engineering goods from India to Poland. Additionally, we will attract new investments from Poland in sectors such as railways and mobility, advanced manufacturing, food processing, and biotech,” he said.Story continues below this adIn this context, Modi said that the two countries have decided to double bilateral trade by 2030.“I am particularly pleased that the Prime Minister has come to India with a large business delegation. We are confident that companies from both countries will work together to develop trusted supply chains for the world, and also realise our shared goal of doubling bilateral trade by 2030,” he said.Between 2013 and 2025, bilateral trade with Poland witnessed an increase of 192% – from $1.95 billion in 2013 to $6.36 billion in 2025.Announcing plans for a start-up initiative, Tusk said, “In critical minerals and coal gasification too, we will develop new partnerships with Polish expertise. Our ties in IT and cybersecurity are already strong. Several Indian IT companies are operating in Poland. To further this cooperation, we have agreed to establish an India-Poland start-up bridge.”Story continues below this ad“We will also organise technology hackathons between the youth of both countries. These initiatives will give new impetus to our cooperation in AI, cyber, fintech, and other emerging technologies, and create new opportunities for the youth of both countries,” he said.Tusk also recalled that “in the very critical time of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, we took care of your students who stayed in Ukraine back then… This is solidarity, trust and friendship in practice. And I am sure that we will never let you down, and that you will never let us down.”Stating that “cultural and people-to-people ties are the greatest strength of our relations”, Modi said, “We are very pleased that Poland has a rich tradition of Sanskrit studies and Indology. We have established the Indian Studies Chair in Krakow. Today, we have decided to further strengthen cooperation in culture and education, as well as sports and tourism.”Tusk will be travelling to Bengaluru Friday. “I will fly to Bangalore, the heart of the Indian Silicon Valley, accompanied by entrepreneurs, managers, including representatives of the Polish Space Agency, and key companies in the space industry and new technologies,” he said.