TAIPEI: India plans to recruit up to 10,000 teachers from Taiwan to meet growing demand for Chinese language classes, Taiwan's education ministry said Tuesday.

Kapil Sibal, India's minister of human resources, made the proposal during a meeting with Taiwan's education minister Wu Ching-ji in India last week, an education official said.

Sibal said there was a strong demand for Chinese teachers as about 10,000 Indian high schools currently offer Chinese classes, or plan to do so, the official added.

Taipei will set up a taskforce to train India-bound teachers and hold more talks with New Delhi by the end of this year on the teaching programme, she said.

India's Education Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment.

Like most countries, India officially recognises Beijing over Taipei but maintains trade ties with the island.

Chinese language classes are becoming increasingly popular as China's political and economic clout grows.

Chinese is also the official language in Taiwan, which split from China in 1949 after a civil war.

Taiwan has previously supplied Chinese language teachers to France, the United Sates and Vietnam, according to the education ministry.