New Delhi [India], August 5 : India and the Philippines have agreed to expand their growing defence partnership with a strong emphasis on defence industry collaboration, maritime security, and strategic cooperation across emerging domains such as space, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Tuesday.
During a special press briefing on the occasion of the state visit of the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr, to India, the MEA Secretary (East), Periasamy Kumaran, stated that President Marcos had acknowledged India's cooperation in defence, particularly in the export of Indian defence platforms like the BrahMos missile system, and expressed interest in further strengthening cooperation in defence manufacturing.
Discussions on joint military training through enhancing interoperability between the armed forces of both nations also took place, with potential for deeper engagement in joint defence production and technology sharing, as well as the broader export of Indian defence equipment to the Philippines.
"President Marcos thanked the Prime Minister for cooperation in the area of the defence industry and the export of Indian platforms to India, including the Brahmos. He also called for greater cooperation in the area of the defence industry," Kumaran stated.
"In addition, as part of our broader defence cooperation, we were talking about capacity building, joint exercises or joint cooperative maritime activities and the exchange of training programmes between our officials and all the standard elements that we talk about when it comes to defence cooperation... We talk about more opportunities for India to export our defence platforms... The Philippines certainly showed interest in working with us to explore opportunities for more defence platforms... We are also talking about enhanced cooperation between our coast guards aimed at sharing best practices and enhancing maritime domain awareness on both sides," he added.
The MEA also highlighted that both sides recognise the Philippines' unique archipelagic defence needs and, in this context, Indian defence platforms, particularly those suited for coastal and maritime operations, are seen as a good fit for Manila's evolving defence doctrine.
In the area of space cooperation, India showcased the cost-effectiveness and technological capabilities of its space programme, which the Philippines expressed strong interest in utilising to address national priorities, as well as called for India's assistance in launching its satellites and developing indigenous space capabilities.
"The Philippines is a country of about 7,600 islands. Their defence concept is about archipelagic defence. Their defence doctrine and all the platforms that are of interest to them as part of this archipelagic defence concept would be of interest to them," the MEA Secretary East stated.
"Space is another area. We did highlight our capabilities in space and the cost-effectiveness of our space programme... They wanted to try and use some of our space technology and space capabilities to effect social transformation in terms of helping predict weather events, helping with agriculture, and helping with disaster relief. Those are areas which are of interest naturally. We'll be talking in terms of helping with launching Philippine satellites and helping them develop satellites. All of these are on the table," he added.
India and the Philippines, in a Joint Declaration on the "Establishment of a Strategic Partnership", following Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Philippines President Marcos' meeting, also underlined the importance of maritime security, where both countries reaffirmed their commitment to the sustainable and peaceful use of ocean resources.
Both sides emphasised the importance of shipbuilding cooperation, joint hydrographic surveys, coastal surveillance, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and search and rescue operations.
They also agreed to increase participation in multilateral maritime exercises such as the ASEAN-India Maritime Exercise, India's Exercise MILAN, and the Philippines' Maritime Cooperative Activities, the joint statement stated.
The two countries agreed to collaborate in the co-development and co-production of defence equipment to achieve self-reliance in defence production.
Cybersecurity was another key area of discussion, with both countries agreeing to deepen cooperation in the digital and cyber domains, including policy dialogue, cybersecurity capacity building, digital public infrastructure, and the protection of critical information infrastructure, as per the statement.
On the broader security front, the joint statement reaffirmed the importance of continued engagement through institutional mechanisms like the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) and the Joint Defence Industry and Logistics Committee (JDILC).
India and the Philippines also pledged to strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, with the joint working group on counter-terrorism continuing to focus on issues such as terror financing, organised crime, trafficking, and the misuse of emerging technologies.