Trade, defense and the Russia-Ukraine conflict will dominate the Modi-Tusk talks on October 22

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File. | Photo credit: Reuters

Building trade and defense ties, as well as discussions on the war in Ukraine, will be high on the agenda as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (October 22, 2026). Mr Tusk visited India in 2010, during his previous tenure as Polish Prime Minister, and in 2017, when he was President of the European Council. Among other outcomes, Delhi and Warsaw are aiming to double bilateral trade, which currently stands at about $6 billion, with the India-European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to be signed in December expected to give a boost.

Mr Tusk will also travel to Bengaluru on Friday (October 23).

“The visit will provide an opportunity to further strengthen the India-Poland strategic partnership and deepen cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including trade and investment, defence, new technologies, renewable energy, education, culture and people-to-people relations,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a notice of the visit. “It would also serve to deepen the strategic partnership between India and the EU,” it added, marking the upcoming India-EU summit to sign a free trade agreement on December 16, when Mr Modi is expected to travel to Brussels. Mr Tusk is accompanied by Mr Andrzej Domanski, Minister of Finance and Economy, and a large business delegation, the ministry said.

While defense cooperation will be a priority, Poland is also keen to isolate ties from Russia by signing a “classified information confidentiality agreement”, the sources said.

The Joint Working Group (JWG) on Defense met in Warsaw this September to finalize the agreements to be discussed. Among them is an agreement to take into account the sensitivities of Polish defense companies, which fear “technology leaks to Russia”, and to ensure control of dual-use items, they added.

In addition, Mr Modi and Mr Tusk will discuss the war in Ukraine, including recent initiatives by New Delhi to mediate between Kiev and Moscow on issues such as grain exports in the Black Sea and the safety of sailors who have faced attacks in the war.

During his visit to Warsaw in September, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar outlined a number of other agreements the two sides were working on in the areas of cyber security, inter-governmental space cooperation, information technology, critical minerals and clean and renewable energy. Asked whether the two sides had discussed India’s imports of Russian oil, which have hit record numbers this year, Mr Jaishankar said the war in Ukraine would not end “because someone decided or didn’t buy oil or aluminum or fertilizers or metals and minerals”. “It will end when there is diplomacy, until dialogue, until negotiations.”

Also read | With the Polish Prime Minister set to visit India next month, defense cooperation will take center stage

Officials said the business delegation, which will attend India-Poland business forums in Delhi and Bengaluru with top Indian CEOs, includes representatives of about 100 companies looking to expand trade with India. Among them will be a number of defense and renewable energy technology companies looking to invest in India’s lithium-ion electric battery recycling projects, as well as green hydrogen and ammonia-related projects, to support the green transition.

While the free trade agreement with the EU will enter into force sometime in 2027, officials from both sides say they want to explore future cooperation that will benefit from reduced tariffs, particularly in food processing and apple supplies. However, dairy and meat products, which make up about a quarter of Poland’s agricultural exports, are not included in the FTA. Mr Tusk and Mr Modi are expected to meet again later this year as Poland has been invited as a special guest by US President Donald Trump to the G-20 summit in Florida on 14-15 December.

Published – 21 Oct 2026 20:35 IST