On June 29, diplomatic sources revealed that the Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Enrique A Manalo held bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart Subramaniam Jaishankar and said that there is enormous scope for the expansion of defence cooperation between India and the Philippines, especially in maritime security and including the potential for joint sales and joint patrol.
The Foreign Secretary of the Philippines is on an official tour to India from June 27, 2023, till June 30, 2023. After the 5th meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation, both ministers expressed keen interest in working together on defence cooperation and maritime security, including through the regular or upgraded official interaction among defence agencies and the opening of a Defence Attaché office in Manila.
They also took into consideration of India’s offering for a concessional Line of Credit to meet the defence requirements, acquisition of naval assets, expansion of training and joint exercises on maritime security and disaster response.
According to a diplomatic source, “Maritime Cooperation can take the shape of exercises related to the Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). This could be a combination of many activities. We are both maritime nations, and there is a great scope where we could identify various cooperation activities, including in the future-joint sales, joint patrols, and exchange of information, best practices and anything to advance MDA.”
As per sources, both ministers looked at expanding cooperation in existing domains like the economy, defence, education, people-to-people relations, anti-terrorism measures and maritime cooperation and also discussed new areas, including cyber security, artificial intelligence and space cooperation.
“We have existing talks on anti-terrorism measures This includes intelligence and also relates to cyber security and cyber threats. A new issue that was discussed was cyber trafficking. It is a major issue for the Philippines, India and also the region. Cyber trafficking is becoming a bigger, major issue in the discussions. Both sides have agreed to cooperate on this issue,” a source said.
Stating that there are so many opportunities for defence cooperation, the source said that the Philippines could take advantage of Indian expertise in this domain. The key dialogue was not only in terms of weapons, but cooperation through training courses, greater military exchanges and joint exercises in the future, the source said, stressing that it was a process that would continue and not be limited to single sales of equipment.
Concerning Indo-Pacific, “because we both recognise and share a common approach to the Indo-Pacific, for instance. Both believe that Indo-Pacific should be a region which is free, open and region whose members promote peace and stability So there is a lot of room to cooperate, especially in the field of defence,” the source added.
On Maritime Cooperation, the joint statement said that both ministers emphasised the utility of the MDA and, in this context, called for the operationalisation of the standard operating procedures for the White Shipping Agreement between the Indian Navy and the Philippines Coast Guard. They look forward to signing an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) on enhanced maritime cooperation between the naval forces of both countries, the statement noted.
In other engagements, Manalo called on the Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankar and visited the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Speaking at Indian Council For World Affairs (ICWA) on June 28, 2023, he said that the Philippines certainly hoped to develop very robust defence arrangements with India while noting that they have already entered some potential deals.
As far as economic cooperation is concerned, the diplomatic sources reveal that the two sides discussed improved access to Phillipenes Markets. The nation also invited a number of Indian companies, especially in IT, agro-processing, copper and textiles. The two countries are also undertaking discussions to re-negotiate their bilateral investment promotion and protection agreement, a source said. India is the 15th largest trading partner of the Philippines, with trade worth three billion last year.
On regional issues, the joint statement said that the two ministers had held wide-ranging meetings and substantive discussions on regional and global issues of mutual concern. They underlined that both countries have a shared interest in a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific Region, the statement read.
“They underlined the need for peaceful settlement of disputes and adherence to international law, especially the United Nations Convention For Law on Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea,” it added.
In January 2022, the Philippines concluded a 375-million-dollar deal with India to purchase three batteries of the shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. Deliveries are expected to begin by year-end.
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