New Delhi, Nov 3 : Polish Defence Minister Bogdan Klich arrives here on Tuesday on a three-day visit to India to explore possibilities of tie-ups with Public Sector Undertakings for joint production as New Delhi looks for partners in the realm of military hardware.

Besides a delegation level meeting with Defence Minister AK Antony, Klich will hold talks with the chairmen of top Defence Public Sector Undertakings including HAL, BEL, BEML and Ordnance Factories Board (OFB).

This follows the fourth meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) held here last month. During the JWG Meeting held between October15-17, the two sides agreed to consolidate cooperation in defence industry and specialized training of their Armed Forces.

The India-Poland JWG on Defence Cooperation was set up with the signing of an agreement on defence cooperation in February 2003.

New Delhi and Warsaw signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation in February 2003 during the visit of the Polish Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, to India. Contracts worth 600 million dollar are currently in play. These include the modernisation of tanks and the acquisition of air defence missiles.

At home, Poland has replaced the 800 horsepower engines of the T-72 with 1000 hp machine. The tanks have also been fitted with modern fire control systems and night vision equipment.

India has shared with the former Soviet bloc ally a long tradition of friendship and cooperation in various fields including defence production and supplies.

The Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Poland will visit a Para Brigade of the Indian Army at Agra on Wednesday before leaving for Vietnam early on Thursday morning. (ANI)