By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], July 14 : Poland has reiterated its strong support for India's bid for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), while also pitching for deeper defence cooperation, including joint production of military equipment, drones and satellites, Secretary of State at Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski told ANI.
Backing India's long-standing demand for UNSC reforms, Bartoszewski said Poland supports New Delhi's aspiration to become a permanent member, but acknowledged that expanding the Council remains difficult as any structural change requires consensus among all existing members, each of whom has veto powers.
"We do want India as a non-permanent member. We discussed with India also bigger changes in the structure of the Security Council of the United Nations. The problem is, and has always been, that in order to make changes, all members have to agree. And since every member has a veto, there's always somebody who doesn't want to change because they like to have a small club than a larger club... We certainly support India in this quest," he told ANI.
On defence cooperation, the Polish minister said the two countries are working towards signing an agreement on the exchange of classified information, which he described as essential for expanding military collaboration.
"We have to sign an agreement about exchanging classified information because without it, it's very difficult," he said.
Bartoszewski said India has shown interest in acquiring various Polish military platforms and is also exploring the possibility of manufacturing them in India under a collaborative framework.
"There is interest from the Indian side in selling various Polish military platforms to India, and India is also interested in potentially producing them here," he said.
Highlighting ongoing cooperation, he said a Polish company has already established manufacturing operations in India for drones after initially exporting them to the country.
"We already have a company which is not only selling drones to India, but has now set up a company to produce those drones," he said.
He added that the two sides have also discussed the possibility of Indian companies manufacturing defence equipment in Poland.
"We've discussed matters of producing some military items by Indian company in Poland," Bartoszewski said.
Emphasising Poland's expanding defence spending, he said Warsaw had secured a 44-billion-euro EU loan, with 89 per cent of the funds earmarked for Polish arms manufacturers and the remainder for collaborative defence projects.
"We are keen to take foreign platforms, including India. But we expect some transfer of technology," he said.
The Polish minister also revealed that a company is pursuing a potential USD 1 billion satellite project involving satellites to be produced in India.
"We've got a company which is trying to secure a deal for satellites worth USD 1 billion produced in India for the Indians," he added.