Polish Envoy says, 'Bharat Phir Milenge' as he leaves India for his next destination

By Ayushi AgarwalNew Delhi [India], March 31 (ANI): Poland's Ambassador to India Adam Burakowski, before leaving India and starting his new term in South Africa said that he will remember the time spent in New Delhi for the rest of his life and hopes to see India again.

Speaking to ANI, Burakowski, in hindi, said that he will remember and cherish his time spent with family here. He also spoke about his tenure and added that during this period of time, the relationship between India and Warsaw grew stronger.

"My tenure was for five years and during these five years the relationship grew stronger and we are now more connected. We have more economic cooperation and people-to-people relations are stronger. My relationship with India is of 26 years, I first came to India in 1997 as a tourist. I loved your country from day one. I started learning Hindi and started getting interested in the culture and in the history of politics and then I became a scholar and specialist in India in political science. And my best memory of India are all these 26 years", the envoy said.

"We have been through some very difficult times. During the covid pandemic, we showed solidarity and we showed how we can work together to fight global problems", he added.

The envoy also highlighted Operation Ganga where Poland helped in the evacuation of Indian students from Ukraine after the crisis broke out between Russia and Ukraine last year in February.

Talking about the Russian-Ukraine conflict, he said, "Poland condemned the Russian aggression from day one and we are helping Ukraine. We stand with Ukraine. In the first few weeks of Russian aggression, Poland helped to evacuate around 6000 Indian students. It was under Operation Ganga and Polish authorities and society", he added.

When asked about the Indian help to Warsaw during the Second World war, the envoy said that during the invasion of Poland, a king from Gujarat offered refuge to children.

"In 1939, Poland was invaded by Germany and the Soviet Union. The eastern part of Poland was invaded by the Soviets and a few hundred thousand poles were deported to Soviet Death camps in Siberia. And then after three years, they were released and the Polish government in exile did a big operation to get them out of the Soviet Union. They ended up in Iran. At that time, the Polish government in exile was looking for some places to put them in shelters. And two Indian Maharajas offered help ... the Maharaja of Jamnagar, Gujarat and Kolhapur, Maharashtra," Adam told ANI.

"We are very grateful for this and we also showed that during the very hard times, It was the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We also helped Indians to get out of this war," he added.

Speaking further about Trade and connectivity, the envoy said that the trade relationship between India and Warsaw was at a record high of more than USD 4 billion and also he hoped that the connectivity would expand further.

"There are flights operated by polish airlines to Mumbai and Delhi and we hope that in the next years, this connectivity will be even more. the number of Indians in Poland is growing and Indian culture is becoming more and more popular in Poland, especially Indian cuisine. In Warsaw alone there are 112 Indian restaurants," he said.

Talking about India's G20 Presidency, the envoy said that at such a crucial time, India as its current leader has a big role to play.

"The presidency of India and G20 is very important for India, but also for the world. Now, the world is facing many problems. After we overcame the Covid pandemic, we see the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which causes not only death and distruction in Ukraine. But also global problems for all the world which is the price rise, the inflation and the insecurity in terms of energy and all the possible negative effects," Burakowski said.

"The G20 is a forum that deals with this problem and India as it's a current leader has a big role to play and this also shows the growing importance of India. I can say that during these five years, I observed really the growing importance of India in international relations. Still, also I have seen a lot of developments in terms of infrastructure, economy and all kinds of progress," he added. (ANI)