By Surender Bhutani
Warsaw : President Pratibha Patil arrived here 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 accompaning 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.
Incidentally, it is Namaste India, owned by Ashok Manani, who has been asked to provide food for the president during her stay in Warsaw and Krakow.
After two days of stay in the Polish capital the president will go to Krakow for sightseeing and meeting with the local authorities.