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India’s Rediscovery of Poland: The Drivers and Limits of a Growing Partnership

Despite the growing momentum in relations between Poland and India, policy differences exist over Russia. 

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk‘s recent visit to India from October 21-23 underscored the growing relations between New Delhi and Warsaw. However, while there is much to be said about the newfound momentum in ties, clear differences exist over Russia. 

During the Cold War, India maintained robust relations with Central and Eastern Europe because of their shared affiliation with the Soviet Union. For example, Czechoslovakia was India’s largest trading partner in Eastern Europe, and Poland was one of India’s defense suppliers. However, in the post-Cold War era, India’s engagement with Central and Eastern Europe weakened. Instead, India devoted considerable energy and attention to Western Europe, namely the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. 

However, within the past decade, New Delhi has re-engaged with Central and Eastern Europe, illustrated by India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar’s visits to Bulgaria and Serbia in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Poland in 2024, and more recently, Modi’s visit to Slovakia and President of India Droupadi Murmu’s visit to Romania in June and July 2026, respectively. In a significant development, India took part in its first summit with members of the Visegrad Group, or V4, when Jaishankar met his Polish, Slovakian, Czech, and Hungarian counterparts at the sidelines of the UNGA in September 2026. 

Tusk’s recent visit is reflective of India’s broader re-engagement with Central and Eastern Europe following the Cold War. 

The key drivers of the growing Indo-Polish relationship include defense and trade. 

One of India’s major goals is to diversify its arms sources away from Russia, and it has done so through greater indigenization and expanded defense partnerships, such as with France. While India’s desire to lessen reliance on Moscow predates the Ukraine War, the conflict accelerated it, such as through delayed arms deliveries, like the S-400s, and Russia’s growing dependency on China, which New Delhi fears could make Moscow unwilling or unable to sell arms to India, as during the 1962 Sino-Indian War. 

As India seeks to lessen reliance on Russia, it has sought to deepen defense relations with Poland. While India’s primary security partner in Europe has traditionally been Paris, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has facilitated a continent-wide industrial rearmament. As a frontline state on Europe’s eastern flank, Poland has assumed a greater role in European security. As such, Poland’s growing importance within European security has correlated with deepening Indo-Polish defense industrial cooperation. 

For example, in 2024, when the two countries upgraded their relationship to a “strategic partnership,” they announced in their 2024-2029 action plan to deepen defense industrial ties. Notably, in February 2026, the Polish ambassador to India, Piotr Antoni Świtalski, said India used Polish drones during Operation Sindoor.

Beyond defense, economic relations have also driven growth in the relationship. Poland’s economic weight within Europe has increased significantly........

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