India would continue to deepen people-to-people exchanges and industrial cooperation with Taiwan, especially in the high-tech and value-added sectors, Ninad Deshpande, the country’s new representative to Taiwan, said at an Indian Republic Day event on Monday.
During a reception to mark India’s 77th Republic Day, which commemorates the adoption of its constitution, Deshpande said that there has been “steady and substantive progress” in bilateral relations, with engagement expanding on all fronts.
The two sides have built partnerships in electronics, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and information and communications technology, which are contributing to “capacity-building, skills development and long-term value creation,” said Deshpande, who took up the post of director-general of the India Taipei Association (ITA) on Jan. 2.
Photo: Huang Ching-hsuan, Taipei Times
As India is undergoing a phase of economic and institutional reform, Taiwan’s strengths in “innovation, industrial excellence and talent development” align naturally with the priorities that his country is hoping to achieve, he said.
To that end, Taiwan and India have signed more than 20 memorandums of understanding, while bilateral trade has risen to about US$10 billion a year, the envoy said, adding that he expected the momentum to continue.
“India’s engagement with Taiwan will remain forward-looking and pragmatic,” he said. “As we enter the Year of the Horse — a symbol of energy, endurance and steady progress — we are confident that our cooperation will continue to move with purpose, resilience and momentum.”
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱), who was representative to India from 2020 to last year, told the event that India has a special place in his heart, as he still practices the yoga and meditation that he learned while there.
Describing India as an important partner, Ger said that the two countries set a record of US$12.5 billion in two-way trade last year, while more than 260 Taiwanese companies have investments in India.
Before his post at the ITA, the de facto Indian embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official ties, Deshpande, a career diplomat since 2005, since 2023 served in Geneva as India’s ambassador to Switzerland.
In July last year, he became India’s ambassador to the UN.
His other overseas posts include Beijing, Shanghai, Bangladesh and Singapore, the ITA said.
Deshpande filled the vacancy at the ITA left with the departure of former director-general Manharsinh Yadav.
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