By Ayushi Agarwal
New Delhi [India], July 13 : Reaffirming Poland's commitment to counter-terrorism, Poland's Secretary of State and Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski said Warsaw has "zero tolerance" for terrorism in all its forms, including terrorist attacks on Indian territory, while responding to India's concerns over cross-border terrorism and Poland's engagement with Pakistan.
His remarks come months after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, during talks with Poland's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in January, urged Warsaw to show "zero tolerance" towards terrorism and "not help fuel terrorist infrastructure" in India's neighbourhood.
Asked how Poland responds to India's concerns regarding Pakistan and cross-border terrorism, Bartoszewski said, "That is an old story. It happened in January, and we have zero tolerance for any form of terrorism, irrespective of where it comes from."
Drawing parallels with the security challenges facing Europe, he added that Poland was itself confronting what he described as "state terrorism" from Russia, including acts of arson, sabotage, cyberattacks and killings.
"We've got now state terrorism of Russia... and we have zero tolerance for that, and we have zero tolerance of terrorist attacks which occur on Indian territory. So that's no question," he said.
Bartoszewski said he had discussed the issue extensively with External Affairs Minister Jaishankar during his previous visit to India and believes the matter has been settled.
"I discussed these matters. I listened to Dr Jaishankar when I was here in February... I had the pleasure and honour of having dinner with Dr Jaishankar and I believe that matter is completely closed," he said.
Responding to a question on whether Poland recognises India's concerns over cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan and whether Warsaw's engagement with Islamabad would come at India's expense, the Polish minister pointed to the frequency of high-level India-Poland engagements as evidence of the importance Warsaw attaches to New Delhi.
"Given that our Prime Minister is just coming to see Prime Minister Modi as a part of a close strategic cooperation that we have, I think that's one good sign that we value high-level contacts," he said.
He noted that he visits India several times a year, while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar remain in regular contact.
"We expect Dr Jaishankar to visit us at the beginning of October as well for a conference. We've already agreed that, of course, there will be a one-to-one meeting with Minister Sikorski as well," Bartoszewski said.
His remarks come ahead of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's scheduled visit to India this year, which is expected to focus on strengthening strategic, economic and defence cooperation between the two countries.