No change in India's position on Taiwan: Govt sources

New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) India on Tuesday reiterated its longstanding, clear and consistent policy on Taiwan which facilitates and promotes interactions in areas of trade, investment, tourism, culture, education and other such people-to-people exchanges.

"There is no change in our position on Taiwan. We stressed that, like the rest of the world, India has a relationship with Taiwan that focuses on economic, technology and cultural ties. We intend to continue it," a source in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated less than 24 hours after Beijing claimed that the issue of Taiwan came up for discussion during the meeting between External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi on Monday.

The Indian government also facilitates legal employment of Indian workers overseas based on mutual interest.

China claims Taiwan to be a part of its territory that must be reunified with the mainland by force, if necessary. In recent years, Beijing has increased military exercises in the Taiwan Strait to intensify pressure on Taiwan.

On Monday, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval held the 24th round of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary question with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

In his opening remarks, NSA Doval mentioned that India-China relations have witnessed an "upward trend" and that the borders have remained peaceful since the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan last year.

"There has been an upward trend. Borders have been quiet. There has been peace and tranquillity. Our bilateral engagements have been more substantial. And we are most grateful to our leaders who, in Kazan last October, were able to set a new trend, and we have profited a lot since then," said NSA Doval.

He noted that the "new environment" created by the Kazan talks has helped both sides move ahead in several areas of cooperation.

Expressing optimism about the current round of talks, the NSA said that India hopes this 24th SR-level dialogue will be "equally successful" as last year's and will hold "special importance" during the Prime Minister's visit to China for the SCO Summit, later this month.

"With this new energy and the new momentum, with your personal efforts and with the maturity and sense of responsibility of our diplomatic teams, ambassadors, and also our armies on the borders, we have been able to make it this time," the NSA added.

--IANS

/as