Shared humanitarian legacies can be a durable foundation of diplomacy. Illustrate with India–Poland relations.

During World War II, Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji of Nawanagar sheltered over 1,000 Polish refugees, most of them children [2]. Eight decades later, that act of compassion still shapes India–Poland ties, which became a Strategic Partnership in 2024 [3]. It shows how humanitarian goodwill can outlast changes of regime and alliance.

The humanitarian legacy

• Balachadi (Jamnagar) and the Valivade camp, Kolhapur (about 5,000 refugees) hosted Poles fleeing the war [2].
• Reciprocity: in 2022, Poland helped evacuate Indian students from Ukraine [1].

How the legacy sustains diplomacy

• Continuity across eras: ties formed in 1954 survived Poland's communist period, its 1989 shift to democracy and its 2004 entry into the EU [2].
• Public memory as soft power: Warsaw has the Square of the Good Maharaja (monument unveiled in 2014), and eight Polish schools are named after the Jam Saheb [2].
• Institutionalised memory: the Jamsaheb Youth Exchange Programme began in 2024. The first Polish youth batch (Feb 2025) visited the Balachadi and Valivade sites [2].
• Cultural bridges: Sanskrit has been taught at Jagiellonian University since 1860–61, an ICCR Chair was set up there in 2017, and Poland has about 300,000 yoga practitioners [2].
• Trust turned into interests: Poland is India's largest trade and investment partner in Central & Eastern Europe, with trade of US$5.8 bn (2024) [2]. The 2026 visit set a goal of doubling trade by 2030 and offered co-production in defence, space and nuclear energy [1].

Limits of legacy

• Divergent security views: India–Russia trade reached a record US$68.7 bn in FY25, mostly oil imports [5]. Poland, a frontline state in the Ukraine war, sees this very differently.
• Promises outrun projects: a defence MoU dates from 2003 [2], yet the 2026 statement names no specific joint project [1].

Shared memory has given India–Poland ties a reserve of trust and public goodwill. That trust lasts when it is matched with concrete interests. The way forward is to deliver on the Action Plan 2024–28 [4], make use of the India–EU FTA once it comes into force, and expand youth exchanges. Done well, this would turn the Good Maharaja's compassion into a lasting partnership, in keeping with Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Article 51's call to promote international peace.