Indian FM to visit PH; defense, maritime cooperation among top agenda

Jaishankar’s visit is part of his three-country Southeast Asia tour, which also includes Singapore and Malaysia. (File Photo: IAEA Imagebank/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MANILA – India’s Foreign Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is visiting the Philippines next week to advance trade and tourism with the Philippines, including defense and maritime cooperation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Saturday said the Indian top diplomat will undertake his second visit to the country on March 25 to 27.

“In addition to advancing trade and tourism between two of Asia’s fastest growing economies, the foreign minister’s meeting with Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo will focus on defense and maritime cooperation, food security, development, healthcare and financial technology cooperation,” the DFA said.

On defense, India has previously made a loan offer to help the country modernize its military.

READ: India markets defense equipment in PH; offers soft loan

Last month, the Indian government also brought to Manila a business delegation to showcase its homegrown military technologies and equipment and scope out possible defense industry tie-ups with the Philippines.

On top of these, New Delhi and Manila are also close partners on development and capacity building.

Through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation, over 1,100 Filipino public servants have been trained in various development programs in India.

India is also the Philippines 15th trading partner and 13th export market, with total bilateral trade surpassing USD3 billion in 2023.

Jaishankar’s visit is part of his three-country Southeast Asia tour, which also includes Singapore and Malaysia.

He first visited the Philippines in February 2022.