00:00I'm delighted to be in India again previously in the same capacity in 2011, but first visit
00:07since the establishment of our strategic partnership launched by President Modi and
00:13Prime Minister Tusk in 2024 in Warsaw. I've been to India many times in the past in different
00:22capacities, including on family holidays, and this time not only did I have the honor and the
00:29pleasure of meeting my counterpart, Dr. Jay Shankar, but also of taking part in the world-renowned
00:37Jaipur Literary Festival. Poland and India are both dynamic democracies. We therefore have
00:47many things in common. The level of trade is not yet satisfactory, but we are working
00:52on it and we hope that the negotiations between India and the European Union on a free trade
01:02agreement are concluded successfully to the satisfaction of both India and the European Union and that
01:13the trade flourishes further. We of course discussed pressing problems of our neighbourhood, this
01:20neighbourhood, global affairs, and you can guess what those subjects were. I want to assure
01:28you that Poland and India are countries that are interested in upholding the principles of
01:38international law. Both of our countries condemn the crossing of international borders either by
01:46tanks or by terrorists. Both India and Poland are victims of transnational terrorists and therefore
01:54we condemn it in the strongest terms. Again, I'm delighted to be here again and looking forward to
02:02further developing mutually beneficial relations. Thank you. Thank you so much. So we have time for a few
02:09questions. So please introduce yourselves. Say the name of the agency you're working for.
02:14Well, of course there are differences that come from geography and history. Poland suffered under the communist
02:37yoke in the second half of the 20th century. And before that we were a Russian colony in the 19th century.
02:46India was colonized by someone else. But that colonial experience informs our desire for the world to be run
02:58on the basis of principle on the basis of principle and not the power of the fist. And we understand India's
03:07different size and position. But we still think it's useful to exchange views because both of our countries
03:18desire peace. We hope that President Putin will finally admit that the invasion of Ukraine was a costly criminal
03:30mistake and ends this war which is right now keeping people freezing in Kiev that, you know, in temperatures
03:42that go below zero and a power plant and heating plant being deliberately target, targeted.
03:55So I am confident that India will be among those countries that urge
04:02the perpetrator of this act of aggression towards settling it without further blood bloodshed.
04:13Minister, if I may ask.
04:15Excuse me, excuse me.
04:15Sorry, I can.
04:18Excuse me. Hold on a second, please. One at a time, please.
04:21Okay.
04:21Let's start over here.
04:22Minister, the Excellent Affairs Minister, Jayshankar spoke to you at the Hyderabad House.
04:27In the opening statement, he said that selective targeting of India, be it for the Russian oil
04:32or for the tariff, is something that is not appreciated and there should be no selective
04:36targeting. How do you see those comments coming in from your Indian counterpart?
04:40Well, we have sanctioned Russia, but that was because Russia broke the Budapest Memorandum under which
04:49Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons. And Russia broke the border treaty between the two countries,
04:57actually signed by Vladimir Putin, and Russia broke the UN charter by invading another country with
05:03tanks. So in those circumstances, imposing sanctions, in other words, taking countermeasures
05:12by the international community against the aggressor is justified. In many other circumstances,
05:19it is not justified. But trust me, in Poland, in Europe, we know something about targeted sanctions now.
05:25Minister, let's take you on the side now, as well. Same question? Okay, go ahead.
05:30So, I'm Sahil from ANI. Just wanted to know about what was the discussion with your counterpart
05:35regarding U.S. tariffs? What was the discussion and any outcomes that came on?
05:40We don't like them. Okay. Minister? Minister, I'm Lomas from INS. My question is how does Poland
05:47assess the current security situation in Eastern Europe? Well, Poland has historically been invaded by
05:56Russia many times. Russia has taken huge swathes of our territory in the past. So, you know,
06:07I'm one of the European politicians who tried to encourage Russia to be on a convergent trajectory
06:18with the European Union. But that requires living in peace with your neighbors.
06:25And when Russia started invading her neighbors, that ruins everybody's sense of security.
06:34Russia overestimated its capacity to conquer Ukraine and has now been fighting this
06:43bloody war for longer than the Soviet Union fought Nazi Germany. And it's still fighting in Donbass.
06:49And it's taking huge casualties for tiny slivers of territory. So, we hope that sanity prevails in
07:00Moscow and that Russia ends this war. But, of course, that depends on one man.
07:07And in the meantime, unfortunately, instead of spending our money on health systems, on education,
07:14and other desirable things, we are having to spend it on armaments. Poland has the highest proportion
07:21of GDP in NATO of GDP in NATO, 4.7%. We are now, we've created as the European Union,
07:30the safe deck mechanism for retooling our defense industry, 150 billion euros,
07:39of which Poland will be the biggest beneficiary. And we have loaned Ukraine 90 billion euros,
07:47so that Ukraine can sustain its defense for another two years. We hope that Vladimir Putin recalculates
07:55whether he can afford to continue this war for another two years.
08:02Now, out of old sympathy, I want to hear from the statesman of Calcutta.
08:07Do we have the statesman? Please pass on my best regards to the statesman. I used to write
08:15for the statesman in the 1980s. Correspondence, my correspondence from Afghanistan was published there.
08:27Competition, right.
08:28Well, as I said at the beginning, we don't believe that larger countries should be allowed or
08:49encouraged to take over the territories of smaller countries.
08:53So, Poland, along with the majority of the European Union, upholds the principle
09:02of inviolability of borders and of national sovereignty.
09:06Now, let's switch to the left side, please.
09:07Yes, please.
09:08Franziska, I'm the German radio.
09:10All right. Hi.
09:12Our Chancellor was just here last week, and everyone is moving to sign the European trade
09:18agreement next week, as you said. So, what's in for Europe? What is in for countries like Poland
09:23and also Germany in this agreement, which took forever to sign?
09:29Well, you know, when faced with tariffs, the increase in tariffs from some regions of the world,
09:36we seek for new trade partners. And India seems to be willing. And I think we need to demonstrate
09:43to the world that some regions of the world still believe in free trade, which makes you more
09:49competitive and richer. So, yes, we all have sensitivities in some industries. That's inevitable.
09:57But, for example, Indian agriculture and European agriculture are more or less compatible.
10:04We don't make the same things. We don't grow the same products. So, I think there is a there's a
10:10great deal of potential there, particularly in view of the fact that the European Union,
10:16by its very nature, by being a confederation with diffuse powers and the checks and balances
10:25between the member states, the European Parliament and the Commission, we've now become not only a group
10:33of democracies, but a predictable single market. We, in our system, we don't, we can't make the kinds of
10:44sudden turns that you can make in other parts of the world, which I think makes us more attractive
10:51as a trade partner and also as an investment destination.
10:55And we'll take the last question over here, please.
10:57Minister Kesha Parmanavan from the Tring. What was your discussions on the regional politics?
11:02Because I remember you were in Pakistan in October and this was something that the external affairs
11:07minister said in his open remarks. So, can you give us a sense of what was discussed in terms of the
11:12regional politics and the regional situation that India is facing? Well, we all have regional concerns and
11:18we all have neighbors and with neighbors you have opportunities and challenges. So,
11:26yes, we did discuss it. And as I said at the beginning, on terrorism, we are on in one mind.
11:35And of course, we also have concerns. India took part in the Zapat exercises in Russia
11:43that we find threatening. So, I was very glad that we were able to discuss, frankly,
11:49what's on our minds. Thank you so much. Thank you, Minister. Thank you for your time.
11:53Thanks. Goodbye.
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