India-Poland strategic partnership should translate into JVs: PM Donald Tusk

Poland PM Donald Tusk called for greater technological cooperation between India and Poland, while addressing the India-Poland Business Forum at Bengaluru

Updated - October 23, 2026 03:26 pm IST - Bengaluru

Karnataka's Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar with Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, in Bengaluru on October 23, 2026. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

“India and Poland should move beyond traditional trade and deepen cooperation in technology, AI and aerospace to strengthen their economies”, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday (October 23, 2026).

Strategic partnership between the two countries should translate into Joint Ventures (JVs), the visiting leader said, addressing the India-Poland Business Forum at Bengaluru. He called for greater technological cooperation between the two countries to strengthen their economies and help them access global markets.

Mr. Tusk highlighted the city's role as a global technology and innovation hub.

"This place (Bengaluru) shows how investing in people, knowledge, and entrepreneurship can change the position of the entire economy," he added.

Recalling that India and Poland elevated their ties to a strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Warsaw in August 2024, Mr. Tusk said the action plan covered technological cooperation, cybersecurity and the space sector.

Mr. Tusk added that cooperation between the two countries should strengthen both economies and help them compete in global markets.

On information technology and digitisation, the Polish leader proposed partnerships combining India's large IT services sector with his country's expertise in software, cloud solutions, automation and cybersecurity. He said Polish companies could bring specialised solutions and European market experience, while Indian partners could help scale production and services.

Highlighting digital public services, he cited India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Poland's electronic government services and mObywatel digital identity application as examples of expertise the countries could share.

"Together we can develop secure solutions that make everyday life easier for citizens and businesses," he said, stressing that digitalisation should improve productivity, reduce costs and enhance service quality.

Mr. Tusk said Artificial Intelligence (AI) should occupy a special place in bilateral cooperation, with opportunities to develop applications for industrial automation, data analysis, diagnostics and infrastructure management.

He also called for tools for small and medium-sized enterprises and greater cooperation between universities and research institutes in machine learning and data analysis.

"Cybersecurity, information protection, and digital infrastructure resilience are therefore both a common challenge and an area of new business opportunities," he said.

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Identifying aerospace as the second major pillar of cooperation, PM Tusk cited India's Chandrayaan-3 mission, which landed near the Moon's south pole in August 2023, and Poland's participation in the European Space Agency (ESA).

He said Polish companies and research centres had expertise in electronics, optical systems, software, scientific instruments and satellite-data analysis, and called for these complementary capabilities to be used jointly.

Mr. Tusk cited the participation of Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla in the 2025 Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station as a symbol of bilateral space cooperation.

"The participation of astronauts from our countries in one crew showed that Polish and Indian specialists can work in the most demanding technological environment," he said.

Polish space companies were already exploring Indian partnerships in satellite components, Earth observation, navigation software, data analytics, space security and dual-use solutions.

"If we can participate together in an international space mission, we should also develop specific industrial projects here on Earth," he said.

The Polish PM further said startups and research teams in both countries needed investors and access to customers. He recalled Poland's participation in the Bengaluru Tech Summit in 2025 and said the country would return for this year's edition in November.

He said he expected the forum to lead to new partnerships between ICT companies, jointly developed and exported AI solutions, opportunities for Polish companies to participate in Indian space programmes and initiatives to commercialise technology.