After China's Arunachal Pradesh Renaming Row, India's Taiwan Response

New Delhi: In an interesting development, India recognised Taiwan as a country for the first time after the Cultural Ministry's official 'Amrit Mahotsav' handle's mentioned the same in a quiz on Wednesday. In a question posed on its handle, 'To which country did Bharat recently deliver the initial batch of BrahMos cruise missiles?', one of the options read Taiwan. This move comes in the middle of China renaming various areas in Arunachal Pradesh. In response to China's renaming spree, India's defence minister Rajnath Singh said, "I want to ask China if we change the names of various states of the neighbouring country, will those be parts of our territory? Because of such activities, the relationship between India and China will deteriorate."

Currently, India doesn't share any formal diplomatic relationship with the country due to its One-China policy.  Even though India follows the One-China policy, both countries have set up an office for diplomatic functions back in 1995. While India has the India-Taipei Association (ITA), the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) was established in New Delhi.

From having a low-profile relationship, India has moved towards closer ties with Taiwan, especially after the NDA came to power in 2014. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony, Taiwan’s Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien was invited. Soon after India-China relationship hit a rock bottom after the 2020 Doklam incident, two BJP MPs, Meenakshi Lekhi and Rahul Kaswan, were asked to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen virtually.

In a veiled message aimed at China, India called the death of former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui as "Mr Democracy."