Surender Bhutani

Warsaw, April 23 President Pratibha Patil arrived here on Thursday on a four-day official visit to Poland, 13 years after the last visit by an Indian head of state. She is accompanied by a large business delegation.

She was received at the Fedrich Chopin International Airport by the officials of Polish Foreign Office as well as the members of the Indian embassy.

Last time an Indian president visited Poland was when Shankar Dayal Sharma came here in 1996.

A big delegation consisting of high officials from different ministries led by Nalin Surie, secretary (west) of the Ministry of External Affairs and a delegation of 24 businessmen are accompanying the president along with Ashwini Kumar, Minister of State for the Industrial Development and Promotion who is acting as minister-in-waiting.

A large number of Indians here are having prosperous businesses since the 1990s when Poland opted for a market economy. Many Indian restaurants have come up and one can see the names of Maharaja, India Curry, Tandoor Palace and Namaste India advertised on the walls and doing roaring business.