Taiwan promotes India ties, awards scholarships

New Delhi/Taipei, Aug. 5 (CNA) Taiwan's representative to India presented scholarships to more than 100 Indian students and expressed his hope that they will become an "important bridge" between the two countries.

Representative Baushuan Ger (葛葆萱) presented scholarship certificates to local students at a ceremony held by the New Delhi-based Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC) Friday.

The scholarship recipients were also introduced to elements of Taiwanese life and culture including food, clothing, housing and education by officials at the center, which serves as Taiwan's de facto embassy in India.

Ger told CNA that more than 40 students were awarded Taiwan Scholarships, which fund university-level study, while more than 90 others received Chinese-language Huayu Enrichment Scholarships.

"Indian students are now very enthusiastic about going to Taiwan to pursue further studies or learn Chinese," Ger told CNA.

The representative expressed optimism that the scholarship recipients would "become an important bridge for economic, trade and other exchanges between Taiwan and India in the future."

Sugandha Tandon, a Ph.D candidate at Jawaharlal Nehru University who was awarded a one-year scholarship to study Chinese in Taiwan, told CNA that learning the language was essential for her research.

Tandon's doctoral research focuses on visual culture and art production during China's Mao era, according to the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, where Tandon worked as a research assistant.

Krishna Anoop, a recent high school graduate, said she learned about the scholarship opportunity from her teacher and was very happy to receive a scholarship to study courses related to artificial intelligence in Taiwan.

Taiwan was her first choice and an "ideal environment" for overseas study, due to its outstanding living conditions, relatively low tuition fees and world-leading levels of personal safety, Anoop said.

Chen Li-ying (陳立穎), head of TECC's education section in India, told CNA that even after raising the eligibility criteria, the Taiwan Scholarship and Huayu Enrichment Scholarship each received more than 200 applications this year.

Indian students coming to Taiwan is not a new phenomenon. Around 3,000 are currently studying in Taiwan, while over 500 have been awarded government scholarships in the last decade, according to TECC.

But this year's scholarships also represent Taipei's interest in strengthening ties with India, Taiwan's 16th-largest trading partner.

In June, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on winning reelection in India, saying in a post on the social platform X: "We look forward to enhancing the fast-growing Taiwan-India partnership, expanding our collaboration on trade, technology and other sectors to contribute to peace and prosperity in the IndoPacific."

Modi replied to Lai on the same day, posting: "Thank you (@ChingteLai) for your warm message. I look forward to closer ties as we work towards mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership."