The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a discussion on “Surmounting Tensions over Taiwan: Implications and Options for India” on July 19, 2023 (Wednesday). Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, gave the opening remarks and Amb. Anil Wadhwa moderated the session. Amb. Vijay Keshav Gokhale gave the keynote address while Amb. Ashok Kantha and Amb. Arun Kumar Singh were the discussants. Amb. Satish Chandra, Amb. Pankaj Saran, Amb. Skand tayal, Amb. Anil Trigunayat, Vice-Admiral Satish Soni, Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma, Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli, Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh, Mr. Kanav Monga, Lt. Gen. R.K . Sawhney (Retd.), Brig. Vinod Anand (Retd.), Prof. Sujit Dutta, Gp. Cap. Naval Jagota (Retd.), Cdr. Gopal Suri(Retd.), Prerna Gandhi, Dr. Sweta Kumari and VIF interns also participated in the discussion.

The Taiwan issue is becoming increasingly significant for the security of the Indo-Pacific region. The United States and China are not making any concessions on their positions on the island country. This issue is expected to dominate the geopolitics of the region in the coming decades. In this backdrop, the discussion involved assessment of the challenges posed by the tensions surmounting across the Taiwan Strait and their implications on India and the Indo-Pacific region. The discussion brought out an Indian perspective on the situation in Taiwan and the options available for India. India’s relations with China, Taiwan, and the US were thoroughly evaluated by the participants. Pertinent geopolitical issues such as the Europe-China relations, US-China relations, Russia-Ukraine War, diversification of supply chains, grey-zone warfare, semiconductors and emerging technologies were also brainstormed.