The Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) and India’s National Maritime Foundation (NMF) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding at the Yushan Forum to deepen Taiwan-India cooperation in maritime affairs and regional development.
The signing of the memorandum marks the think tanks’ consensus on maintaining regional prosperity and peace, which could serve as a foundation for Taiwan-India relations, the TAEF said.
Yesterday afternoon, TAEF president Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌) and NMF secretary-general Pradeep Chauhan presided over the signing via videoconferencing.
The NMF, founded in 2005, is India’s primary think tank on maritime issues. It conducts research and analysis of India’s maritime issues in close cooperation with the Indian Navy.
Hsiao said that the agreement marks the beginning of collaboration that would join research on the Pacific and Indian oceans.
In line with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed Indo-Pacific Ocean Initiative, India must develop a supportive framework for the initiative, requiring feedback from India’s officials, policymakers and academics, as well as from around the world, Chauhan said.
The foundations are to regularly hold online seminars and expect to arrange visits once disease prevention measures have lessened, he added.
The memorandum, which is a step up from private collaborations, would help to create a more inclusive Indo-Pacific region, TAEF executive officer Yang Hao (楊昊) said.
Yang echoed Chauhan’s comments on planned forums and visits, saying that the forums would hopefully persuade Indian policymakers to give more weight to Taiwan-Indian cooperation on regional issues.
Yesterday, in their first “closed door” meeting, the think tanks shared their views on the Indian initiative and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, and established mutual goals, Yang said.
The New Southbound Policy aims to observe and deepen interaction with partner nations, expand collaborative efforts, and promote mutually friendly environments to further economic, industrial, technological, educational, cultural and tourism partnerships.
The partner countries under the policy are the 10 ASEAN members, plus Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The meeting also hoped to lay the groundwork for collaborations, Yang added.
The TAEF said that the deal could serve as a foundation for future Taiwan-India talks.
Two executives of drone supplier Jiin Ming Industry Co (錦明實業) have been detained and held incommunicado over the company's alleged use of prohibited China-made chips and camera lenses in drones supplied under recent military contracts, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors' Office said today. In a statement, prosecutors said they raided the offices of Jiin Ming — headquartered in Taoyuan — as well as those of its subsidiaries and its suppliers on Thursday last week. The raids followed a report that the company had breached its procurement contracts by putting the prohibited components into drones delivered to the military. During the raids, prosecutors summoned
The government would continue monitoring online rumors that a pneumonic plague outbreak has spread from Russia into China and could enhance existing quarantine measures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today. During a legislative meeting, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) said rumors were circulating that the disease had spread across several Chinese provinces. He asked Cho whether the government was prepared to prevent the disease from spreading to Taiwan, given the frequent exchanges between Taiwan and China, and how concerned the government was about the alleged outbreak. The Ministry of Health and Welfare implemented border quarantine measures after briefing the Executive Yuan
South Korean boy band BigBang drew 120,000 fans to three concerts at Taipei Dome from Friday through yesterday, as the band thanked them for their support over their 20-year career. The Taipei Dome concerts were part of BigBang's "2026-2027 World Tour XX: Cosmos." Friday's concert was BigBang's first performance in Taiwan in 11 years. During the encore, group leader G-Dragon (GD) shouted "I love you" in Chinese and said he was especially happy to perform in Taiwan with bandmates Taeyang and Daesung. "Taipei, I'm very grateful to you all," GD said in Chinese, asking fans to wait for the band's return. Daesung thanked
A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy aircraft carrier group was being monitored after entering the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense said today, after Beijing yesterday criticized Taiwan for using a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). A Chinese naval task group led by the aircraft carrier Liaoning (遼寧) yesterday sailed to the western Pacific for training, Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the PLA Navy as saying. “The drill is part of the annual routine training plan aimed at testing and improving the troops’ combat readiness and enhancing their ability to
RSS