June 28, 2022
Taiwandia: The Slow, Quiet Development of India-Taiwan Relations
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a meeting with US President Joe Biden (not pictured) during the Quad Leaders Summit at Kantei in Tokyo on May 24, 2022. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
At first blush, Taiwan’s diplomatic space seems to be shrinking. The number of countries offering Taiwan diplomatic recognition has been dwindling. Since 2019, Kiribati, the Solomon Islands, and Nicaragua have all switched recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China. Today, only 13 countries and the Vatican City still recognize the island state.

Heritage Research Fellow Jeff Smith writes <[link removed]> that on the other hand, many countries that don’t formally recognize Taiwan are finding new ways to enhance diplomatic and economic linkages with Taipei, and India may be the most important among them. 

In recent years, largely outside the headlines, India and Taiwan have quietly developed a robust economic relationship coupled with an expanding mélange of political interactions. In December 2021, the two countries began negotiations on Free Trade Agreement, with a special focus on developing India into a semiconductor manufacturing hub. According to Taiwan envoys to India, bilateral trade hit new records in 2021 at over $7 billion, and over 120 Taiwanese companies are operating in India with cumulative investments over $2.3 billion. This year, the State Bank of India raised $300 million issuing Taiwanese “Formosa bonds,” the first Indian commercial entity to do so. 

On the diplomatic front, the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has expanded political engagements with Taiwan. Last May, two BJP members of parliament virtually attended the swearing-in ceremony of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. One month earlier, India’s Ministry of External Affairs tweeted condolences to Taiwan after a railway accident. Taiwanese officials reciprocated days later after an ambush on Indian security personnel by Maoist insurgents. In October 2021, Taiwan’s senior envoy to India, the head of The Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in New Delhi, met with the head of the Tibetan Government in Exile based in Dharamsala. 

The development of India-Taiwan relations has been a long time coming. In the 1950s, India was one of the first Asian capitals to recognize the People’s Republic of China and its One China principle, putting India-Taiwan relations into a deep freeze for the Cold War. A diplomatic breakthrough would have to wait until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the launching of India’s “Look East” policy in 1991. Four years later, the two countries established representative offices in Taipei and New Delhi. Over the ensuing decade and a half, the two sides began incrementally enhancing engagement, signing a bilateral investment agreement, launching cross-capital direct flights, exchanging parliamentary delegations, and signing memorandums to expand science, technology, and space cooperation. A former Indian defense secretary addressed a conference in Taipei; the head of Taiwan’s Kuomintang party did the same in New Delhi.

Whether India-Taiwan links expand further in the years ahead will depend on the Modi government and the future course of China-India relations. The desire for expanded engagement from Taiwan is clearly there. India features prominently in the “New Southbound Policy” championed by President Tsai in recent years.

If the Modi government does seek to elevate ties further, U.S.-based Taiwan expert Michael Mazza notes that it has a range of available options, from combined military exercises to Track 1.5 defense dialogues, coast guard training, expanded parliamentary interactions, and clean energy cooperation initiatives. Other options include establishing a joint fusion center on influence operations or inviting India to join the Global Cooperation and Training Framework, a platform jointly administered by the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan that “allows practitioners from around the world to learn what Taiwan has to offer and to strengthen connections between experts.” India and the U.S. could also start their own separate Track 1.5 dialogue on Taiwan or add discussions on Taiwan to regular meetings of the Quad grouping joining Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. 

Taiwan needs friends more than ever. It is always a willing partner. For now, the ball is in the Indian government’s court.

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