The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Enrique A. Manalo and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar expressed interest in continuing defense cooperation through regular or enhanced interaction at the official level and the opening of an attaché office in Manila during the Fifth Meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Affairs held on Thursday.

They also discussed India’s offer of a concessional line of credit to the Philippines for the acquisition of naval assets, as well as increasing training and joint exercises on maritime security and disaster response, among others.

The ministers welcomed the bilateral maritime dialogue and hydrographic cooperation and stressed the need for the establishment of the operating procedure for a partnership agreement between the Indian Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard.

Both foreign ministers highlighted the growing pace of bilateral trade, which exceeded three billion dollars from 2022 to 2023 for the first time, and agreed to start negotiations on a bilateral preferential trade agreement.

Manalo and Jaishankar described as positive the ratification of the agreement on the assistance of Indian grants for the implementation of quick impact projects in the Philippines signed in February 2023.

India underlined its commitment to share its digital innovations for the benefit of local Philippine communities in sectors such as disaster resilience, health, water, environmental protection, education and other issues.

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