One of the leaders who congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his re-election was Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, who took to X to state how he was looking forward to "enhancing the fast-growing Taiwan-India partnership."
In his reply, Modi thanked Ching-te for "his warm message". However, the exchange angered China, which reacted sharply to the interaction between Modi and Lai.
In a terse statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China had diplomatic relations with India and opposes all forms of official interactions between the Taiwan authorities and countries having diplomatic relations with China.
"First of all, there is no such thing as ‘president’ of the Taiwan region. As for your question, China opposes all forms of official interactions between the Taiwan authorities and countries having diplomatic relations with China. There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China," Ning said when asked about the Modi-Lei exchange.
"The one-China principle is a universally recognised norm in international relations and a prevailing consensus in the international community," Mao said, adding, "India has made serious political commitments on this and is supposed to recognise, be alarmed about and resist the Taiwan authorities’ political calculations. China has protested to India about this."
The US on Thursday responded to the issue calling such congratulatory messages between two foreign leaders "part of diplomatic business."
"I haven't seen those specific reports, so I don't want to comment on them in detail, but I would say that such congratulatory messages are the normal course of diplomatic business..."
India and Taiwan have been forging closer economic ties under Modi, with the two sides planning a labour-supply pact that could see Taiwan hire as many as 100,000 Indian workers.
China views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunified with the mainland, even by force.