Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/83533

JaLCDOI : 10.14943/ebr.9.1.1

Examining the logic and depth of India-Taiwan ties, this article provides an analysis of the context in which they operate and asks whether the two sides can develop bilateral relations as a hedging bet against China with which they seem to have common strategic and security concerns. The article is exploratory in nature and argues that while India might like to reserve the so-called Taiwan Card as an extreme option, India’s “Taiwan Card” and Taiwan’s “India Card” . if they were to play any such cards . are unviable in the present scheme of their bilateral relations, their separate relations with China, the regional strategic situation and Taiwan’s domestic politics. This article places the limitations in a historical context and argues that the history that has defined the present India-Taiwan people-topeople relations, lives on. It concludes that while it is unlikely that their bilateral ties will be able to move beyond China’s shadow in the strategic context, there is immense scope for transforming the hitherto ad hoc nature of the ties to a self-defined people-to-people relationship, which does not rest on approval or disapproval from China. The hypothesis is that the structural and domestic dynamics currently shaping the bilateral ties appear to be in sync and conducive for strengthening the ties.a rare occurrence in the history of their relations.