New Delhi, Aug 12, 2022, By Special Correspondent
New Delhi, Aug 12: India voiced its concern on Friday over developments in Taiwan triggered by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taipei defying the Chinese government and its allies in Moscow.
New Delhi called for avoiding any unilateral action to change the status quo in the region, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said as India's first reaction on the Taiwan crisis.
India also pitched for exercising restraint and underlined the need for efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region in the wake of China launching major military drills around Taiwan as part of its response to Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
"Like many other countries, India too is concerned at recent developments," Bagchi said at a media briefing.
"We urge the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change status quo, de-escalation of tensions and efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region," he said.
82-year-old Pelosi's daring visit marks a vicious cycle of threats and defiance that risks bringing the world’s two biggest powers into direct military confrontation. A miscalculation by either side could plunge a world, already grappling with the war in Ukraine, into an even deeper crisis, ending a seven-decade period of peace over Taiwan, analysts say.
They say India will suffer too as any conflict would engulf the South China Sea and Malacca Straits through which more than half of India’s trade passes.
Pelosi, the second in line to the presidency after the vice-president, is the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan, a self-governed territory, in 25 years.
China views Taiwan as its wayward breakaway province and part of its territory, despite having never controlled it and has long vowed to reunify the island with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.