Amid Ongoing Stand-Off With China At LAC, India Mulls Trade Talks With Taiwan: Report

Amid ongoing stand-off with China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, India is considering to start trade talks with Taiwan, reports Bloomberg.

According to the report, a senior government official said that support for formal trade talks with China is growing within the Indian government and those batting for the same are getting the upper hand.

India had been reluctant to initiate trade talks with Taiwan despite repeated requests from the island nation's government over the past several years. The reluctance in moving ahead with the trade talks was because it would involve a fight with China once any agreement is registered at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

However, over the past few months the support for trade talks with Taiwan has increased in the Indian government.

A trade pact with Taiwan would help India's goal of seeking greater investments in technology and electronics.

The official, however, added that it was unclear when a final decision on whether to a start talks with Taiwan would be made.

It should be noted that India does not officially recognise Taiwan, with the two governments maintaining unofficial diplomatic mission in the from of "representative offices".

Earlier in 2018, India and Taiwan had signed an updated bilateral investment pact to further expand economic relationship. The trade between both the countries grew by 18 per cent to $7.2 billion in 2019, as per India's Ministry of Commerce.

In the recent days, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen's administration has been pitching for expansion in ties with India, with ministers and the Wen herself batting for closer relationship between the two democracies.

Taiwan's move to woo India has come in the backdrop of the public sentiment in India toward China growing negative in the wake of the deadly clashes between India Army and Chinese Army in which 20 Indian soldiers and unknown number of PLA troops were killed.

Besides, China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, in recent months have shown aggressive behaviour towards Taiwan, with fears of a military conflict growing as Beijing has increased the frequency of live-fire drills in the region.