Taiwan’s President Lai Ching Te sent a congratulatory message to Narendra Modi on his victory in the Lok Sabha elections, to which India also replied. When China objected to the conversation between the leaders of the two countries, the US State Department said that such congratulatory messages between two foreign leaders is a part of diplomatic etiquette. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in his daily press conference on Thursday (June 6), ‘I would say that such congratulatory messages are a part of diplomatic etiquette.
Miller said this in response to a question regarding China’s objection. Taiwan’s President had sent a congratulatory message to Narendra Modi on his victory in the Lok Sabha elections, in response to which Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that he is eager to build close relations with Taiwan.
Lai was elected President of Taiwan only last month. In a post on X, he said, ‘My heartiest congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his victory in the election. We look forward to enhancing the rapidly growing Taiwan-India partnership, expanding our cooperation in trade, technology and other areas to contribute to peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.’
On this, Narendra Modi wrote on X, ‘Ching Te Lai, thank you for your warm message. I look forward to even closer relations while working towards mutually beneficial economic and technological partnership.’ China objected to this type of conversation between the two leaders and said that India should oppose the political moves of Taiwanese officials.
According to China, Taiwan is its rebel but integral province. It says that it should be reintegrated with the mainland (China). Even if force has to be used for this. Reacting to these messages, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning had said that China has lodged a protest with India on this.