External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called for an end to the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war through dialogue and diplomacy, saying “endless war must give way to an end to war” as he held wide-ranging talks with Poland’s leadership on bilateral ties and major global challenges.
Jaishankar, who arrived in Warsaw after visiting Kyiv, met Polish President Karol Nawrocki and held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. Discussions covered the Ukraine conflict, West Asia, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), G20 and the growing India-Poland Strategic Partnership. The two foreign ministers also reviewed cooperation in trade and investment, space, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, defence, education, shipping, mining and energy.
Push for diplomacy
Addressing a joint press conference with Sikorski, Jaishankar said the Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, was imposing mounting human and economic costs. “These are wars without winners. Every additional day means more death, more destruction, more loss to the parties themselves, and more cost to the rest of the world,” he said.
India, he said, remained in continuous contact with both Russia and Ukraine and was exploring ideas that could help mitigate and, ideally, end the conflict. Jaishankar stressed that the focus must be on promoting dialogue and diplomacy and supporting efforts capable of bringing the fighting to an end.
Responding to a question on India's purchases of Russian oil, Jaishankar rejected suggestions that trade decisions were the key to ending the conflict. He argued that the war would end through diplomacy, dialogue and negotiations rather than because a country decided whether to buy oil, fertilisers, alumina, metals or minerals.
Economic ties expand
Jaishankar and Sikorski also reviewed progress under the India-Poland Joint Action Plan 2024-28, agreed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Poland two years ago. The two sides are working on agreements covering cybersecurity, space, clean coal, classified information and critical minerals, among other areas.
The External Affairs Minister said implementation of India's free trade agreement with the European Union would create significant economic opportunities and could further strengthen bilateral cooperation with Poland. He described the EU as an important pole in an increasingly multipolar world and said India’s expanding relationship with the bloc formed part of the broader restructuring of the global order.
The two sides also discussed supply-chain resilience and concerns over food, fuel and fertiliser security amid continuing global conflicts. Jaishankar said India and Poland, as political democracies, market economies and open societies, could work together to shape important international debates and deepen cooperation in multilateral forums.
Legal mobility backed
On migration, Jaishankar said India strongly supported legal mobility of workers as part of an increasingly global economy but opposed illegal and irregular migration. He noted that India had concluded bilateral agreements with several countries, including European nations, to facilitate legal movement.
Jaishankar also announced that the second edition of the Jam Saheb Memorial Youth Exchange Programme would be held in October. Later, he met members of the India-Poland Parliamentary Group and discussed ways of developing a contemporary bilateral relationship as well as wider regional developments and India's ties with the European Union.