Officials representing Taipei and India at the weekend celebrated “three decades of friendship” between the two nations at the Taipei Lantern Festival, which features lanterns of landmarks and technological achievements of India.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) and India-Taipei Association (ITA) Director-General Manharsinh Laxmanbhai Yadav attended the opening of the event.
The light features and sculptures were made by staff at the association, which is participating for the first time to mark 30 years since it was established, to celebrate the deepening ties between the people of both countries, it said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of the India-Taipei Association
Yadav and other ITA officials invited Taiwanese and foreign guests to visit the India display at the Beimen International Friendship Area.
The festival runs through Feb. 16, with light shows from 5pm to 10pm each evening.
The association’s display symbolizes 30 years of enduring friendship and cultural exchanges between the two sides, and presents India’s progress, resilience and vision, as well as showcasing its engineering and scientific achievements, the statement said.
Lanterns depicting the India Gate — an arch commemorating the Indian soldiers killed in World War I — and Parliament House, both in New Delhi, are among those on display, along with others portraying India Rail’s high-speed Vande Bharat Express, and the nation’s success with the Chandrayaan-3 space mission, which completed an uncrewed moon landing in August 2023, ITA officials said.
Two other lanterns are based on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which primarily hosts cricket, and Kevadia’s Statue of Unity — the world’s tallest at 182m, which depicts former Indian deputy prime minister Sardar Patel, the statement said.
The statue and the stadium are prominent sites in Gujarat state, it said.
In a Lunar New Year video released on Jan. 26, Yadav said that Taiwan and India have made great strides together in semiconductor development and other industrial collaborations, as well as cultural cooperation and education partnerships.
These have significantly deepened the bond between the two sides, he said.
Both sides are enhancing cooperation in traditional medicine, education and investment, and have reached a labor agreement to import workers, he said, adding that this would enhance the bilateral relationship.
Separately, the ITA said that it is hosting a special booth at the Taipei International Book Exhibition, which began yesterday and runs through Sunday at the Taipei World Trade Center.
The booth would highlight India’s contributions to space exploration literature, including science fiction, and feature reports on India’s progress in the aerospace industry, it said.
Artists and academics are to speak at the exhibition about India’s classical narrative style, it added.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS