After a hiatus of seven years, the visit of the Polish head of the government to India took place in early September 2010. The visit of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to India was planned when Indian President, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, visited Poland in April last year. In fact President Patil’s visit to Poland came after a long thirteen years, the previous such visit being by former Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma in October 1996. Much proverbial water has in between these visits flown down both the Yamuna and the Vistula. Apart from the recent watershed in Polish politics and national life – the tragedy of the air crash near Smolensk in Russia on April 10, which claimed not only the lives of the incumbent Polish President Lech KaczyÅ„ski and the first lady Maria KaczyÅ„ska, but the top military and political leadership of the country – Poland has gradually but certainly been proving itself as an important new member of the European Union (EU) from Central Europe. In May 2004 Poland became a member of the EU along with other Central and East European Countries (CEEC) and in December 2007 it had gained membership of the Common European visa system, Schengen. In 1999 Poland also joined NATO. Poland is not yet a member of the Eurozone but that could again be a blessing in disguise given the present economic downturn rocking some of the Eurozone member states and causing crucial debates amongst member states on the future of the common currency. Continue reading →