India-Taiwan relations: Delhi wants chips, Taipei needs friends. But what about ‘one-China’?
- By forging closer economic ties, New Delhi can benefit from Taiwanese expertise and at the same time send Beijing a ‘political message’, analysts said
- But they warned that India and Taiwan have divergent expectations – and playing the ‘Taiwan card’ risks incurring Beijing’s wrath
New Delhi and Taipei are drawing closer economically, strengthening business ties at a time of heightened cross-strait tensions and with an unresolved military stand-off at the disputed India-China border that’s heading towards its third year.
India hopes enhanced cooperation with Taiwan’s semiconductor giants will further its goal of building up its domestic chip-making industry, while Taipei is looking to reduce its reliance on the mainland Chinese market by securing greater access to India for Taiwanese companies.
But both have a deeper motive too, analysts said – sending Beijing a “political message”.
Chen was accompanied by a delegation of Taiwanese business executives and industry representatives who took part in the sixth India-Taiwan Industrial Collaboration Summit, as well as the inaugural edition of a round table featuring CEOs from both sides. Their first high-level bilateral meeting in years also took place when Chen met Piyush Goyal, India’s commerce and industry minister.
The meeting, which came almost a year after the two sides launched negotiations on a possible free trade agreement last December, resulted in three tie-ups between Taiwanese and Indian firms and a fresh push to sign the free-trade pact.
Analysts said this built momentum for Taiwan and India to forge even stronger economic ties, against the backdrop of a troubled geopolitical environment and as both have had heightened tensions with Beijing.