This monograph argues that strengthening people-to-people relations is the best way forward for enhancing India-Taiwan relations. It endorses people-to-people relations as a comprehensive package for functional ties in education, culture, science and technology, trade and investment, as well as in other such areas where cooperation has no manifest and direct political or diplomatic implications. Considering India’s support to PRC’s One-China policy, it is advisable to conduct and strengthen India-Taiwan relations through people-to-people contact. The normalisation in the Cross-Strait relations provides an opportunity for India and Taiwan to further deepen their functional ties. Taiwan’s identity as a reality separate from China in functional areas has been accepted by the international community. Enhanced cooperation with Taiwan would in no way undermine India’s long-standing support to the One-China Policy. In keeping with these ideas, this monograph presents a broad roadmap by retelling the forgotten stories of the past and providing a base for discussing the present and the future.
Dr. Prashant Kumar Singh is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. He joined the IDSA in 2009. He follows China’s strategic, military and foreign affairs. Taiwan’s state and society are his special academic interest. He earned his PhD (2009) in Chinese Studies from the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He obtained a one-year diploma in Mandarin Chinese at Tamkang University, Taipei under the Taiwan government’s National Huayu Enrichment Scholarship 2011-12. He is a recipient of the Taiwan Fellowship 2014.