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‘India, Poland reacted differently to Russian invasion, share common interest’: Zbigniew Rau
Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau said the “burning issue of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” was one of the key topics that figured at his meetings with PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart S Jaishankar
NEW DELHI: Poland and India responded differently to the Russian aggression against Ukraine but both countries have a common interest in preserving the rules-based international order, Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau said on Tuesday.
Rau said the “burning issue of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine” was one of the key topics that figured at his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar. He was the first Polish foreign minister to visit India since 2013 and participated in the Raisina Dialogue, where he spoke on the Ukraine crisis.
“While Poland and India may differ in how we have reacted to the war in Ukraine, we believe we still have built on common values, principles and interests, including the promotion of a credible rules-based global order and effective multilateralism,” he said during a brief media interaction on Tuesday evening.
Rau stressed that “Russia’s irresponsible actions in Ukraine blatantly trample all the principles that underpin the world order from which Poland and India have benefited” in past decades. These actions, he said, also have serious implications for global security, including energy and food security.
The Polish foreign minister was the latest in a series of senior European officials who have raised the Ukraine issue during their visit to New Delhi. Though European countries have been nudging India to be more critical of Russia’s actions, New Delhi has so far not publicly condemned Moscow’s actions.
Jaishankar on Tuesday pushed back against the European pressure by referring to the fallout of the chaotic withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan last year, and their silence on challenges to the rules-based order in Asia.
Rau said he shared with the Indian side his “critical assessment of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine”, both as chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and as the “chief diplomat of a country directly bordering the war zone”. He described his discussions on the issue with Jaishankar as “fruitful”.
Despite the different positions adopted by the two countries on Ukraine, Rau said Poland and India will remain partners with the same commitment to the rules-based global order.
“It’s natural that we reacted, in terms of the voting in the [UN] Security Council and the General Assembly and also in the Human Rights Commission, differently but there is no doubt in my mind that our assessment of the situation is very close,” he added.
Poland and India have had “tragic experiences” of foreign imperialism and it is “very difficult not to see the present aggression against Ukraine as an attempt to restore the Russian empire”, Rau said.
Poland recently played a crucial role in the evacuation of thousands of Indian students from Ukraine and both Modi and Jaishankar reiterated the country’s gratitude for this assistance. Jaishankar also expressed India’s commitment to enhancing the bilateral partnership and the two ministers witnessed the signing of a mutual legal assistance treaty.
Rau said the two sides agreed to take political and economic relations to a higher level and to strengthen economic cooperation. India is an important destination for Polish direct investments though the trade volume, currently worth about $4 billion, is not up to the potential, he added.
He said Poland also attaches importance to the strategic partnership between the European Union and India and backs the conclusion of trade and investment agreements to boost mutual investments.
