TAIPEI (Taiwan New) — “There is still so much underutilized potential in the relationship,” Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) Visiting Fellow Sana Hashmi said at a Taiwan-India policy report launch on Friday (Feb. 25).

Titled “Taiwan and India: Strategizing the relations,” the report is the second such document the TAEF has released since 2020.

It not only focuses on current relations but also on how the two countries should navigate ties in the post-pandemic era, Hashmi said, adding that there has been more “appetite” among Taiwanese to learn about Indians.

This, in turn, has created a lot of enthusiasm among Taiwanese scholars and their Indian counterparts to bridge the knowledge gap that currently exists between each country’s citizens. Despite unprecedented growth in bilateral ties, there are many areas that can be expanded, Hashmi said.

TAEF Chairman Michael Hsiao said the report looks at “multiple perspectives” of bilateral relations. Hsiao also said that India has emerged as a “pivotal partner country” for Taiwan through the New Southbound Policy.

Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) praised the report as a comprehensive review that offers policy advice for Taiwan and Indian decision-makers. Kwang said the two nations have many opportunities for cooperation in the fields of culture, trade, education, technology, and many others.

The deputy minister said total trade between the two countries has reached US$7.7 billion (NT$215.69 billion), which is a 64% increase since 2020. Taiwan has established 24 education centers in India to teach Mandarin to Indian students as well as to help them pursue higher education at Taiwanese universities.

Kwang also revealed that Taiwan’s representative office in India and the U.S. embassy in India had co-organized a Global Cooperation and Training Framework hybrid event for the first time on Friday.

Gourangalal Das, director general of the India Taipei Association, said that he has seen a “steady blossoming” of Indian interaction with Taiwan. Prospects for cooperation have never been better, Das said.

He said that the two countries’ respective strengths in medicine, economics, technology, and other fields are complementary. The director-general said he hopes to see relations return to normal once the pandemic subsides.

The report has 18 main chapters with a message from Hsiao and an introduction and conclusion written by TAEF Executive Director Alan H. Yang and Hashmi. It features perspectives from both Indian and Taiwanese experts.