New Delhi
12 May 2006
He may not be young enough to join the foreign service but if
Amitabh Bachchan ever decides to retire from Hindi cinema, he may want to consider an
alternative career as India's cultural ambassador.
India is a "fashion" in Taiwan and stars like Amitabh Bachchan can contribute to the
strengthening of bilateral cultural links by popularising Indian films and television
soaps, according to Taiwan's Economic Vice Minister Shih Yen-Shiang.
He feels the Big B can help Taiwanese people know India and her culture better. It would
also have a salutary effect on entertainment industry and promote tourism potential and
aviation links between India and Taiwan.
Mr Shih Yen-Shiang is leading a trade and investment mission to India. On Friday, he
interacted with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New
Delhi. The team will leave for Chennai on Sunday.
India, he says, is one of three countries identified for Taiwanese investments in 2006.
"We hope the bilateral trade can increase substantially in the next few years, that will be
our goal," he observes. (In 2005-06 it was 1,654.32 million dollars.)
The renewed interest in bilateral trade and investment owes in part to Taiwan's "Go
South" policy, which blends with India's "Look East Policy." Taiwan also hopes India will
wean away its businessmen from China.
Sources say it is in Taiwan's strategic interest to promote India as an alternative
investment centre to China. Accordingly, on February 11, the Taiwan-India Cooperation
Council was launched in Taipei.
The India-Taiwan engagement comes not without some attendant concern, which has
been articulated by China's Ambassador to India at the Defence College of India on April
13 and a news conference on February 13 in Delhi.
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