New Delhi: In an effort to enhance defence partnership with India, the Philippines is planning to procure defence items from India, particularly in the maritime domain. This comes after Manila signed a pact with India in 2022 to buy the BrahMos missile system from New Delhi, ABP Live has learnt.


The Philippines is waiting for India to deploy a defence attaché at its embassy in Manila, after which the Marcos Jr. government plans to take forward talks on buying more defence platforms from India even as it plans to stand up to a “more nationalistic and assertive” China that has claimed territories in the South China Sea much to Manila’s concern, a top official, who refused to be named, told ABPLive.


The Philippines, which is a treaty ally of the US, is seeking defence and security partnership with India as both countries continue to face an increasingly belligerent China. Manila already signed a pact to procure BrahMos missiles system from New Delhi under a $375 million deal last year. The deliveries are expected to begin by the end of this year. But it now plans to procure naval vessels as well, sources said.


India will “soon” be opening a defence wing at its mission in Manila where the DA will be posted. The matter came up for discussion during the 5th India-Philippines Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation that was co-chaired Thursday by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines (SFA), Enrique A. Manalo.


While India had plans to deploy a DA in 2022 itself, the matter got delayed. The issue was also taken up by the Philippines during the Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC) and Service-to-Service Meeting that was held in New Delhi in March.


Unlike his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, President Marcos Jr. has taken a “clearer” stand against China even as he has taken a conscious decision to partner with all those countries that are subjected to China’s “bullying tactics”, said another source.


In February this year, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar awarded 21 Philippine Navy personnel their interim missile badges and pins as they completed the operator training for the BrahMos cruise missile. The Philippine Marines will use the BrahMos as a shore-based anti-ship missile, with the South China Sea being one of the potential areas for deployment.


“Under the Marcos Jr Administration, he has also recently emphasised the need to work with non-traditional partners in the fields of security and economics. India, being a major democratic Indo-Pacific power has now been figuring in the Philippines’ strategic calculus. Manila still wished to pave a middle ground of enhancing its maritime security capabilities while also keeping diplomatic channels open to manage ties with China,” said Don McLain Gill, Philippines-based geopolitical analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Studies, De La Salle University, while speaking to ABP Live.


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From Trade Partners To Defence Partners


India and the Philippines have come a long way from being purely trading partners to security partners with threats from China looming large in the region. While two-way trade and investments are still far below its potential, the Philippines has once again sought India’s support for its 2016 dispute against China over the South China Sea.


During the meeting between Jaishankar and Manalo, both sides discussed in detail the growing assertiveness of China in the region that has caused trouble to both India as well as the Philippines even as both sides agreed to jointly confront the muscle-flexing by Beijing on land as well as in the maritime domain.


A joint statement issued after the 5th India-Philippines Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation meeting said both India and the Philippines agreed on the “need for peaceful settlement of disputes and for adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea in this regard”.


While this is not the first time that India has expressed its support for the 2016 Arbitral Award by the Arbitral Tribunal, it is certainly an indication of the fact that the Philippines is once again willing to talk about it, something that the previous government there avoided.


On July 12, 2016, the arbitral tribunal gave its verdict in favour of the Philippines in a case against China in the South China Sea. The verdict turned down China’s claims over the islands in the South China Sea — including its nine-dash line, recent land reclamation activities, and other activities in Philippine waters — and called it “unlawful”. China refused to recognise the verdict since it cannot be legally enforced and called the judgement “null and void”.


“The main issue here is that the Philippines’ attitude towards the issue (2016 Arbitral Award) has changed and evolved. The present government is ready to confront China, albeit delicately, but it is willing to stand up to China… While they will not step out of line with ASEAN, they will nevertheless seek more and more trilaterals and even quadrilaterals,” Gurjit Singh, author and former Indian envoy to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), told ABP Live: 


During his visit to India, Manalo said at an event organised by the ICWA: “The 21st century beckons us to chart a course for a bilateral relationship that mirrors our highest ideals and our determination to secure the future for our nations and the next generations.”


In his opening remarks at the JCBC, Jaishankar said India is keen on having a robust defence partnership with the Philippines for a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific remains a top priority for India.


“Hopefully, the growing strategic ties will boost and pull the economic side of the relationship which has remained below potential with two-way trade reaching around $3 billion and no significant investments from Philippines to India,” said Gurjit Singh. 


“Amid this national strategic outlook, India serves as a natural partner given its adherence to strategic autonomy, its strong ties with the US, Japan, and Australia, and its growing material capabilities,” McLain Gill told ABP Live.


He added: “Hence, the environment has become conducive for both sides to further their strategic cooperation. However, what will matter most is the continuous convergence of interests between the leadership in Manila and New Delhi given that past Philippine presidents lacked the momentum to strengthen ties with India despite having a conducive structural environment.”