NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar met with his counterpart Teddy Locsin Jr in the Philippines on Monday on his first trip to the country. The visit comes right after the Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in Melbourne, held over the weekend.
"We are entering a new phase of our partnership. Its basis is the mutuality of national security and development aspirations. Our conversation covered a range of issues dealing with both," Dr Jaishankar tweeted.
Dr Jaishankar also said that he expected to take forward a shared agenda through sustained engagement. Before the meeting, he also visited the Intramuros heritage site in Manila. He said there were interesting historical connections with Raja Matanda. He also paid his respects to national hero Jose Rizal.
Before the meeting, the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs tweeted, "The two officials will discuss health and security, as well as other regional and global matters of mutual interest, especially as countries continues to engage post-Covid."
India and the Philippines had earlier signed the $375 million Brahmos deal on January 28th.
The Brahmos deal is one of the first military exports by India involving the Indo-Russian Brahmos missiles and launchers to the Phillipines Navy. This deal will improve Philippines naval warfare capabilities at a time when Beijing is building up its military presence on the islands in the South China Sea which is close to Manila. The Philippines Navy will receive the first of these missiles by the end of 2022.
Diplomatic relations between India and the Philippines were established in 1949. India maintains an embassy in Manila, whilst the Philippines maintains one in New Delhi. A Treaty of Friendship was signed between the Philippines and India on July 11th, 1952.