In a first visit by a Taiwan leader to India after 60 years—the last visit took place in 1947—Ma said, “We are old friends. I want a new beginning.” His statement assumes significance as he delinked India-Taiwan relations from the shadow of China.

However, the Harvard-educated Ma added: “I want Taiwan to be a peace-maker and a responsible stakeholder, and not a troublemaker.”

He said he favoured a “policy of conciliation” towards Beijing and saw India as the role model: “A policy of reconciliation at home that will bring ‘unity in diversity’ as the most populous democracy in the world, India could well be our model in this regard.”

With India, the Taiwanese leader said he is looking towards cooperation in information and telecommunication industries, forging a new IT partnership, including IT industrial park in India or promoting participation in SEZs, jointly developing new IT products suitable for India, andjoint training in R&D.

His aides confirmed that Ma met Manufacturers Association for IT today and will be meeting NASSCOM officials tomorrow, since Taiwan is the global leader in personal computers and LCDs. About his political engagements, Ma said, “We are not supposed to reveal all our meetings.”

Whether India’s approach towards Taiwan was influenced by China, the Taiwanese leader said, “We appreciate India’s pragmatism in this matter”.

On relations with China, a reconciliatory Ma said he wanted to resume dialogue on the basis of “92 consensus”—a policy of “One China, but different interpretations”.

Another common ground with India, Ma said, was agricultural cooperation. “Taiwan’s agricultural productivity is one of the highest in the world. With less than one million hectares of cultivable land, Taiwan not only feeds its 23 million people, but also is exporting high-value agricultural products including fruits and flowers. Increase in agricultural production was mainly due to technological improvement in areas such as breeding, cultivation and post-harvesting. Agricultural cooperation between Taiwan and India will certainly be mutually beneficial,” he explained.

The KMT Presidential candidate, who visited Birla Mandir today and is expected to visit Humayun’s Tomb tomorrow, also wants visits and cultural exchanges between the two countries: “India should rediscover Taiwan, and Taiwan should rediscover India.”