Warsaw [Poland], August 21 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday arrived in Poland on a two-day visit and laid wreaths at Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial and Kolhapur Memorial in Warsaw, two places that commemorate the shared history between India and Poland.
He also laid wreath at Cassino Memorial.
On his arrival, PM Modi was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Warsaw airport. It is the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 45 years.
PM Modi said he looked forward to the various programmes in Poland and his visit will add momentum to bilateral friendship and benefit people of two countries.
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Meanwhile, in a post on X, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said, “PM Narendra Modi paid tribute at the Kolhapur Memorial in Warsaw today. The monument honours the generosity of the state of Kolhapur in Maharashtra which had given shelter to Polish women and children during World War II. It continues to illuminate the deep and enduring friendship and togetherness between India and Poland.”
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“Members of the Association of Polish in India from 1942 to 1948 and myself, I wish you, the prime minister, much health and success in fulfilling the mission you undertook by visiting Poland and Europe. We lost our homes we had nowhere to return to. Only about 10% returned to Poland. India has always remained in our hearts,” said a Polish citizen while PM Modi was at the Kolhapur Memorial.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi also visited the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial.
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Son of one of the Polish children who found shelter in India during World War 2, Tomek Gutowski said Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial, “My father survived from Russia and then he was adopted by Good Maharaja in Jamnagar, India. I am here because of that… When I was a kid I heard all the stories about India and that’s why I was explaining in Polish to other people I had at home the Book of Jungle because the Book of Jungle was the story of my father from India. However, it was a horrible time when he lost contact with his mother, father and sisters. He was an orphan there but he was so proud, so happy, so joyful whenever he was talking about India he was always opening his heart.”
The Prime Minister went to the memorial soon after he arrived in Poland on a two-day visit. The memorial is dedicated to Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji, a former Maharaja of Nawanagar (now Jamnagar). In 1942, the Maharaja established the Polish Children’s Camp in Jamnagar for refugee Polish children who were brought out of the USSR during World War II.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Warsaw’s ‘Good Maharaja Square’ pays tribute to Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji. A group of about 1,000 Polish children departed for India in 1942 from Siberia, where, lost and orphaned amid death and destruction caused by WWII, they had been shifted after the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland.
The children were welcomed by their benefactor, the Jam Saheb, but only after a tortuous journey. The ships carrying Polish refugees from the former Soviet Union, including a large number of children aged two through 17, were denied entry when they called on ports while sailing through Iran to Bombay (Mumbai), then under British colonial rule.
When the Maharaja, who was a member of the Imperial War Council, was made aware of the plight of the children in the Gulags, he became concerned and established a camp in Balachadi, about 25 km (15 miles) from the capital city Jamnagar, for the Polish arrivals.
Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday also laid a wreath at the Monument to the Battle of Monte Cassino in Warsaw. The monument commemorates the victory of the soldiers of the Second Polish Corps at the Battle of Monte Cassino during the Second World War in 1944. The Second Polish Corps conquered the hill and the monastery on it.
Members of the Indian diaspora greeted PM Modi and he reciprocated their affections. The Prime Minister waved to the gathering and also shook hands with some of those present. The members of Indian community raised slogans lauding PM Modi as also “Bharat mata ki jai” slogans.
He watched a performance by the artists who were dressed in colourful Indian attire. Prime Minister lauded the performance and had a photo with the artists.
During his visit, PM Modi will hold meetings with the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the President Andrzej Duda.
After he visits Poland, PM Modi will travel to Ukraine at the invitation of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It will be the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine. (ANI)
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