TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — India and Taiwan should play off each other’s complementary strengths to bolster bilateral relations, India representative to Taiwan Manharsinh Yadav said on Monday (Dec. 11).
As Taiwan looks to expand its service sector alongside its manufacturing growth, and as India moves to boost its industry growth together with its service sector, the two countries can use their strengths to “help each other,” Yadav told Taiwan News.
Talent mobility is a major area in which the two countries can engage with each other, Yadav said. Within education, more Indians could enroll in Taiwanese universities, he suggested, as the schools “could be a good place to study” and at the same time, the influx of students would make Taiwanese universities more diverse and academically rigorous. Additionally, Taiwanese Mandarin teachers and professors can go to India to teach at local universities, which are trying to hold more Mandarin classes, the representative said.
Yadav also said there is an opportunity for a win-win situation if more Indian professionals move to Taiwan for employment, given the country’s demand for more engineers and other white-collar workers. “Indian engineers will surely benefit by getting exposed to Taiwanese industries and Taiwanese industries will surely benefit from the talent or the skills that Indian engineers can bring,” he said.
Overall, “there is a matching of objectives,” Yadav said. “As Taiwan is looking to go to a new jurisdiction, India is rolling out good incentives. Naturally, Taiwanese companies will want to move to India to access those incentives,” he said.
Tech cooperation
Nowhere else are these incentives more evident than in India’s semiconductor industry. The South Asian nation has established the India Semiconductor Mission, a government division with a budget of US$10 billion (NT$315.45 million) (over six years) dedicated to boosting its chipmaking capability.
If any semiconductor company wishes to expand into India, they can receive up to 70% of their capital expenditure back from the government, according to Yadav. “India has all the right ingredients” to help foreign semiconductor companies scale up chip production, he said.
The country has a huge chemical industry ecosystem that can easily ramp up raw material output to meet the requirements of chip fabs, he said. There is also a robust infrastructure being set up, including abundant water and power systems. The Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat, for example, is connected to two power grids and receives energy from renewables, fossil fuels, and nuclear power plants, Yadav said.
Several Taiwanese companies including MediaTek, Advantech, and Holtek are running chip design operations in India, but Taiwan’s chip fabrication in the country is “quite limited,” he said.
Given its tremendous growth in this sector, Taiwanese semiconductor companies “need to seriously think about expanding in India,” Yadav said, adding that it would be “shortsighted” if they did not consider doing so.
India’s space industry, which is currently valued at US$8 billion, is another promising field for bilateral cooperation, Yadav said. With the formulation of a new space policy this year, the private sector can easily carry out research across the space economy, including launch vehicles, satellite development, satellite launching, communications, and remote sensing, he said.
Yadav pointed out that India is experienced in launching satellites at a cheap price. As of June, it has launched 424 foreign satellites, according to an Indian government press release.
Taiwan has “a niche competence” in space technology, the representative said. Taiwan’s optical sensors are among the best in the world, and its semiconductor chips are used by every space-faring nation to get their satellites up into orbit, he added.
Earlier this year, six Indian space startups participated in an incubation program hosted by Taiwan Accelerator Plus in partnership with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other organizations, Yadav said. The startups “have very innovative ideas” that could “be the catalyst in bringing Taiwan and India together in this sector,” he said.
As climate change concerns continue to grow, India and Taiwan can collaborate on clean and green technologies in the future, particularly in solar energy, wind energy, battery development, and electric vehicles. There are lots of companies in Taiwan that have done so well in the green tech sector, he said, which could benefit India as it looks to have 50% of its electricity come from renewables by 2030.
Taiwan and India could also team up in smart city development, Yadav said. India is currently transforming a large number of cities, including those considered third and fourth-tier, into smart hubs. “Smart solutions have an unlimited scope in India,” he added.
Soft power engagement
Yadav said there was “a great deal of scope” in film and television collaborations between Taiwan and India. There are certain common social themes found in both country’s media such as gender issues, human rights, and child rights. Both peoples also appreciate family-related themes and enjoy family dramas, he said.
India’s Bollywood industry produces movies at a faster rate than any other nation, he said, and a lot of content can be found on Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video. “Given the developed taste Taiwanese people have, they are bound to appreciate the Indian movie industry,” he said.
Yadav mentioned that Indian actor Arjan Bajwa came to Taiwan in October to film the movie “Demon Hunters,” which is currently in production. Taiwanese actors JC Lin (林哲熹) and Regina Lei (雷嘉汭) are also involved in the project. The movie is set to be released in the fall of 2024.
Concerning tourism, India has been doubling efforts to attract more Taiwanese travelers since the waning of the pandemic, Yadav said. India offers so much in biodiversity and its 42 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, he said.
India can be a place where Taiwanese can go on a journey of self-discovery, he said. The country hosts “so many philosophies and places for spiritual exploration and meditation,” which the representative noted Taiwanese are very interested in. There are also numerous yoga retreats in the mountains and by beaches, some of which are almost 1000 years old, he added.
Yadav highlighted India’s “Buddhist circuit” as a major attraction for Taiwanese. The special route follows the footsteps of the religion’s founder, Siddhartha Gautama, starting from his birthplace to his place of death.
He also said Nalanda University, which is an institute dedicated to Buddhist studies located in the state of Bihar, could be a great place for Taiwanese who want to learn more about the religion. The university existed for thousands of years but was destroyed about 1000 years ago, according to the representative.
Future ties
Having been in Taiwan for four months, Yadav said he found the country to be “extremely welcoming.” “Taiwanese people are very warm and very accessible,” he added.
So far, there have been no cultural barriers, he said, as the Taiwanese have gone “above and beyond” to help him adjust to life here.
He said he hoped to see deepened ties between the two countries and looked forward to more economic interdependence. As Taiwanese companies look to scale up operations, “I think India is a natural place for them to be,” he said.
Yadav appealed to the Taiwanese to aid him with this goal and urged them to “try to get more exposed to India.” Simultaneously, Indians should come to Taiwan so they can see how friendly people over here are, he said.
As both peoples get to know more about each other, the two societies can develop together, he said.
