PM Narendra Modi arrives in Poland for first visit by Indian Prime Minister in 45 years

The prime minister received a ceremonial welcome at the airport in Warsaw, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Poland on Wednesday evening, becoming India's first prime minister in 45 years (after Morarji Desai) to be visiting the European nation.

PM Narendra Modi being welcomed at Warsaw airport (x.com/narendramodi)

“Landed in Poland. Looking forward to the various programmes here. This visit will add momentum to the India-Poland friendship and benefit the people of our nations,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that the PM received a ceremonial welcome at the airport in Warsaw, the host country's capital.

Prime Minister Modi's engagements in Poland include meetings with his counterpart Donald Tusk and Andrzej Duda, the President. He will also interact with members of the Indian diaspora, lay a wreath at the memorial of the Jam Saheb of Nawanagr, and visit both the monument to the Battle of Monte Cassino and the Kolhapur Memorial adjacent to it.

In his pre-departure statement on Wednesday morning, the prime minister had called Poland, India's ‘key economic partner in Central Europe.’

“Our mutual commitment to democracy and pluralism further reinforces our relationship. I look forward to meeting my friend Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda to further advance our partnership,” he said in his statement.

On Friday, the PM will be in Kyiv, the capital of war-torn Ukraine, in what will be the first-ever visit by an Indian prime minister to Ukraine, which has been in a war with Russia since February 2022.

He is going there on the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. India has been repeatedly criticised by the western nations for having continued to purchase oil from Russia. India has also avoided criticising Russia and abstained from voting against it in the United Nations.