India, Philippines to upgrade defence partnership; boost maritime security

India and Philippines on Thursday decided to expand their defence partnership through upgraded official level interaction among defense agencies, opening of the resident Defense Attaché office in Manila, and consideration of India’s offer for concessional Line of Credit to buy defence equipment.

This was decided at the fifth meeting of the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Philippines counterpart Enrique A. Manalo who is on an official visit to India from June 27-30.

Defence has emerged as a key pillar of Indo-Philippines partnership amid China’s territorial claims along the LAC and the South China Sea region. Both Ministers at the JCBC expressed keen interest to continue to work together in this sector, including through the regular or upgraded official level interaction among defense agencies, opening of the resident Defense Attaché office in Manila, consideration of India’s offer for concessional Line of Credit to meet Philippines’ defense requirements, acquisition of naval assets, and expansion of training and joint exercises on maritime security and disaster response, among others, an official informed.


It may be recalled that the Philippines is the first destination for export of Brahmos missiles.

Acknowledging the growing importance of the maritime sector for both countries, both Ministers welcomed the bilateral Maritime Dialogue and the increased cooperation on hydrography.

Both Ministers emphasized the utility of maritime domain awareness, and in this context called for early operationalization of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the White Shipping Agreement between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG). The two sides will sign the MoU on Enhanced Maritime Cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Philippines Coast Guard (PCG).

It was also decided to have early negotiations for a bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Criminal Matters and a Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Persons. It was agreed that the first round of talks would be held in the Philippines in August 2023.

Recognizing Terrorism and Transnational Crimes as common security threats, the two Ministers also directed that the 2nd Joint Working Group (JWG) on Counter-Terrorism meet in the Philippines in 2023 and discuss forging a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Terrorism and Transnational Crime.

The growing pace of bilateral trade, which had for the first time crossed the level of USD 3 billion in 2022-23, was also discussed by the two Ministers. It was agreed to commence negotiations on a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement. There have been nearly thirty business-to-business meetings held over the past three years in different sectors.