Balancing through Humanitarianism: India-Taiwan Cooperation in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief

As Sino-Indian relations grow more tense amid violent clashes on the Himalayan border, and the tensions in the Taiwan Strait continue to rise, New Delhi and Taipei are inching closer to each other. India and Taiwan are both democratic entities in the Indo-Pacific region involved in disputes with China. Yet for a variety of economic interests and diplomatic legacies, security ties between India and Taiwan remain limited. India and Taiwan also share a common vulnerability with regard to the occurrence of natural disasters. Both countries have a long history of catastrophes that have devastated their populations, infrastructure, and both tangible and intangible heritage. To cope with the challenges posed by the augmentation in the frequency and severity of natural disasters, national armed forces have come to play a pivotal role in humanitarian response. This article explores the scope of interactions between the Indian armed forces and their Taiwanese counterparts. The key research question is: whether the substance and dynamics of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) activities can serve as a potential avenue for New Delhi and Taipei to deepen their bilateral engagement and consider the promotion of military cooperation. To address this research question, this article focuses on India and Taiwan’s approach to disaster management examined through the lens of the theoretical foundation of realism. The changing Indo-Pacific geopolitical environment is giving a fresh impetus to India-Taiwan security ties. Sadly, the relationship between those two dynamic Asian democracies has been neglected and remains widely understudied in the academic literature. This article intends to rectify this matter and raise awareness about the massive potential of such a liaison.