Cooperation in semiconductor key to India-Taiwan relations: Fellow, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation

New Delhi [India], October 31 (ANI): The semiconductor sector has emerged as one of the most important pillars of cooperation between India and Taiwan, said Sana Hashmi, Fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation.
Hashmi, who is currently in India to participate in the India-Taiwan Dialogue, emphasised that the semiconductor industry is a central focus in the growing partnership between the two sides.
Speaking about the dialogue, she said, "When you talk about Taiwan, I think even if you do not want to discuss semiconductors, it just comes automatically. So we did discuss semiconductor cooperation. I think this is the most important aspect when we talk about Taiwan-India relations, because this is also where India's interests also lie."
She further mentioned that there is ongoing cooperation between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and India's Tata Group.
"We did discuss about the cooperation and the ongoing cooperation between the TSMC as well as Tata. Of course, India does expect more investment, more assistance from Taiwan. It will take some time to come, but it is happening," she added.
Hashmi also highlighted that while the semiconductor sector remains the core area of focus, there are several other potential areas for collaboration.
"We are trying to project that there is much more to India-Taiwan relations than semiconductors. There is an EV sector. Apart from commerce and trade and investment, there should be a strong people-to-people component between India and Taiwan," she said.
Expressing optimism about the overall trajectory of the bilateral ties, she said, "I have a very positive outlook on the India-Taiwan relationship. First, the trade relations have improved significantly and are improving by leaps and bounds. For the very first time, India-Taiwan trade relationship has crossed to 10 billion mark. Investment is steadily increasing. There is still a long way to go, but it is still absolutely increasing. And India has a substantial interest in the semiconductor trade and commerce. And I just see that it is actually moving on the upward trajectory."
Talking about the ongoing dialogue, Hashmi said, "I am in India to be a participant in the India-Taiwan dialogue. That's a track two dialogue between my think tank in Taiwan, Taiwan Asia Exchange Foundation, and India's premier think tank, Observer Research Foundation."
She explained that the India-Taiwan Dialogue is the first institutionalized Track 2 dialogue between the two sides and takes place alternately in India and Taiwan every year.
"We conduct India-Taiwan dialogue alternatively, one year in India and one year in Taiwan. This is the first institutionalized track two dialogue between India and Taiwan. There is a coherent, consistent dialogue between think tanks," she added.
Hashmi said that the discussions this year focused on the status of bilateral relations and the way forward.
"We talked about what has been done till now, what the status of the relationship is, and what could be done," she noted.
She said that this year's theme revolved around the economic and trade relationship between India and Taiwan.
"We also had another session on security. Taiwan should just not be looked at through the security lens. We discussed about the Taiwan contingency, the security, but also about other aspects of the relationship and the prospects of the relationship," she said.
Hashmi's remarks pointed out the growing importance of semiconductor cooperation as the key driver of India-Taiwan relations, while also highlighting the need for deeper engagement in other sectors such as electric vehicles, trade, and people-to-people exchanges. (ANI)