India and Poland spar over Russia and Pakistan
India and Poland have voiced their differences on policies linked to their neighborhood, including terrorist infrastructure and sanctions.
New Delhi’s concerns regarding Polish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Radoslaw Sikorski’s visit to Pakistan were expressed by Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in a bilateral meeting on Monday.
The Indian foreign minister said New Delhi expects its partners to not help “fuel terrorism” in its neighborhood.
“Poland should display zero tolerance on terrorism, and not help fuel the terrorist infrastructure in our neighborhood,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks aimed at Pakistan.
Opening remarks during meeting with DPM & FM @sikorskiradek of Poland. 🇮🇳 🇵🇱 https://t.co/XVG4WhmFxY
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 19, 2026
Sikorski’s visit to Pakistan in October 2025 upset New Delhi as it came a few months after the India-Pakistan conflict in May, The Hindu reported. Referring to the EU’s sanctions on India’s trade and oil imports from Russia, Jaishankar said the “selective targeting of India is unfair and unjustified.”
The EU has imposed numerous rounds of sanctions on Russia since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, though Russia remains the bloc’s second-largest gas supplier. In the 18th round of sanctions, the EU targeted India’s second-largest private refinery – Nayara Energy’s Vadinar facility in Gujarat. Nayara is partly-owned by Russian oil major Rosneft.
“We have sanctioned Russia, but that was because Russia broke the Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons,” Sikorski claimed at a press briefing in New Delhi on Monday.
💬We have sanctioned Russia, but that was because Russia broke the Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons.And Russia broke the border treaty between the two countries, actually signed by Vladimir Putin. And Russia broke the UN Charter by invading… pic.twitter.com/JVkVdXm4Xu
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs 🇵🇱 (@PolandMFA) January 19, 2026
He justified the EU sanctions, saying, “in those circumstances, imposing sanctions, in other words, taking countermeasures by the international community against the aggressor, is justified.”
India and the EU are close to a major trade agreement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said during a visit to India earlier this month.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will be the chief guests at Republic Day celebrations on January 26.
An India-EU summit will be held on January 27, the Economic Times reported.
