Taiwan Ambassador to India Tien Chung-Kwang on Tuesday hoped that Taiwan-India relations will gather more strength in the years to come. Kwang said he was glad that in recent years the economic, social and cultural friendship between the two countries has expanded under the dynamic leaderships in both the countries- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

“Under the leadership of the President Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president in the Chinese-speaking world who was sworn-in in May 2016, Taiwan has initiated a number of significant reforms while pursuing a new economic model for sustainable developments that accelerated Taiwan’s economic growth to a three-year high in 2017,” Tien said in his speech addressing the august gathering at a reception to celebrate the 107th National Day (Double Tenth) of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

The event was organized by Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India (TECC) of which Tien is the Representative to India. “Implementing President Tsai’s New Southbound Policy (NSP) that looks to deepen Taiwan’s relationships with South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Taiwan boosted it external trade with these NSP countries. Bilateral trade volume between Taiwan and India, in particular, increased 27 percent year-on-year to US$6.4 billion in 2017,” Ambassador Tien said.

The celebration was started by a group of Fo Guang Shan sramanera’s vigorous lion dance which won thunderous applause from more than 350 guests. Indian Parliamentarian Sunil Kumar Jakhar, Meenakshi Lekhi, Ronald Sapa Lau were among the attendees who wished Taiwan continued success and prosperity.