New Delhi, July 14 (IANS) India and Poland are discussing the possibility of manufacturing certain defence platforms in India, Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski, Poland’s Secretary of State and Deputy Foreign Minister, said on Tuesday.

“India is interested in specific defence platforms that we (Poland) produce, and we are talking about the possibility of producing them in India with some Indian content. We are also talking about possibilities of producing some Indian platforms in Poland with Polish involvement in the form of joint ventures,” Bartoszewski told IANS.

“Given the geopolitical situation, we want to increase our cooperation in security and defence. We are talking about concrete examples of not only selling various defence platforms, but also creating joint ventures to produce something in India. We understand the ‘Make in India’ concept of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and so we would have Polish and Indian content on these platforms,” he added.

The visiting minister stressed the importance of the India-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement (FTA), noting that it will help in boosting trade immensely.

“We signed a strategic partnership two years ago when the Honourable Prime Minister Modi came to Poland, and now we have an action plan to put in place….First of all, we are very happy that India signed the foreign trade agreement with the EU, which allows us to increase our trade involvement,” the Secretary of State noted.

Talking about how current geopolitical events have transformed defence outlook in Europe, he noted Poland is looking at India as a dependable partner in projects that enhance country’s defence capabilities.

“You (India) have never let down your defence industry because you had a different situation. But in Poland, like the rest of Europe, for 30 years, everybody assumed that there’s not going to be a war, so therefore there’s no point in spending money on building defence capabilities and arms factories. Now it has changed substantially, and we are heavily involved in such projects, sometimes with our partners, and India is certainly going to be one of those partners,” Bartoszewski emphasised.

“We also expect to come back here later this year with various weapons producers and firms. Some of them already are present here,” he added.

On Monday, Secretary of State Bartoszewski met Sibi George, Secretary (West) at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and discussed the growing momentum of the India-Poland Strategic Partnership in political-economic engagement, tech, defence, cultural exchanges, fight against global terrorism and other areas of interest.

–IANS

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