Exterior Affairs Minister of India S. Jaishankar with Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and International Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski throughout a gathering in New Delhi on January 19, 2026. Photograph: X/@DrSJaishankar by way of PTI.
India and Poland sparred over their respective regional rivals as Exterior Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Polish International Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Radoslaw Sikorski aired their variations over Pakistan and Russia on Monday (January 19, 2026) as the 2 Ministers met for talks in New Delhi.
Taking intention at Poland’s renewed ties with Pakistan, Mr. Jaishankar instructed visiting Mr. Sikorski that India expects its companions to not assist “gasoline” terrorism within the neighbourhood. Mr. Jaishankar additionally delivered a extreme message to the visiting dignitary concerning the European Union’s sanctions towards India’s commerce and oil imports from Russia, calling it “selective focusing on”.
In televised opening remarks on the Hyderabad Home, Mr. Jaishankar stated he wished to “talk about a few of [Mr. Sikorski’s] current travels to the area”, a direct reference to the Polish FM’s go to to Pakistan in October 2025, the place he had met Pakistan’s high management. The go to to Pakistan by Mr. Sikorski seems to have upset the federal government because it got here a couple of months after the India-Pakistan battle in Could.
“Poland ought to show zero tolerance for terrorism and never assist gasoline the terrorist infrastructure in our neighbourhood,” Mr. Jaishankar stated. Mr. Sikorski is a former journalist who lined the warfare in Afghanistan in 1986-1989 and spent appreciable time in Pakistan. Mr. Jaishankar stated he was “no stranger to the area”, and can be “actually accustomed to the longstanding problem of cross-border terrorism”.
Chatting with reporters after the assembly at Hyderabad Home, Mr. Sikorski stated that the dialog about India and Poland’s respective areas had been “frank”, and stated that whereas the 2 sides agreed on issues over terrorism, India’s participation in “Zapad-2025” army workouts in Russia and Belarus was seen as “threatening”.
Regional issues
“All of us have regional issues and all of us have neighbours, and with neighbours you could have alternatives and challenges,” Mr. Sikorski stated, including that on terrorism India and Poland are of “one thoughts”. “We even have issues. India took half within the Zapad workouts in Russia that we discover threatening,” he said.
The trade of variations between Delhi and Warsaw was seen as uncommon provided that the 2 international locations have been bettering relations lately, and India and the European Union are near a serious commerce settlement subsequent week. The go to by the Polish Minister is the primary since Mr. Modi visited Warsaw in August 2024, from the place he travelled to Ukraine as nicely.
Throughout talks, Mr. Jaishankar turned to the problem of India’s imports of Russian oil that he stated Mr. Sikorski had been talking about “publicly” throughout his go to. In Jaipur on Monday (January 19, 2026), the Polish International Minister had stated that he was “happy” that India had lower its buy of Russian oil, and added, throughout an interview with The Hindu, that he hoped India shares the view that “ideas nonetheless matter”, whereas criticising Russian President Vladimir Putin for his actions in Ukraine.
Sources stated that New Delhi had additionally taken exception to Mr. Sikorski’s feedback in Paris earlier this month on the sidelines of the “Weimar Triangle” talks when the Polish International Minister had stated that he was “glad” by India’s discount of Russian oil imports “as a result of that is financing the warfare machine of Putin”.
“I’ve repeatedly underlined that the selective focusing on of India is each unfair and unjustified. I accomplish that once more at present,” Mr. Jaishankar instructed Mr. Sikorski, referring to the feedback and presumably to the EU’s resolution to sanction Nayara vitality, {a partially} Russian-owned refinery in India in July 2025, in addition to different Indian firms for his or her imports.
Commerce push
India and Poland have elevated commerce 200% prior to now decade to $7 billion and either side have plans to extend direct flights, commerce and know-how cooperation. The Polish Deputy PM’s go to is certainly one of numerous different visits this month by high-level European leaders, together with the German Chancellor and France’s Nationwide Safety Adviser, simply forward of the go to by the EU’s high management for the Republic Day Parade and the EU-India Summit subsequent week.
MEA officers didn’t reply to queries about whether or not the problem of “selective focusing on” of India would even be raised with the European Fee and Council Presidents Ursula Von der Leyen and Antonia Costa throughout talks subsequent week.
Revealed – January 19, 2026 11:02 pm IST
