Philippines eyes buying more defence equipment from India | India News

NEW DELHI: As the Indian govt prepares to host Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, Manila has expressed curiosity in buying more defence equipment from India. Defence, safety and maritime cooperation are among the many key pillars of the connection and can prime the agenda of Marcos’ bilateral engagement with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, together with commerce ties.Ahead of the president’s go to, the chief of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Romeo Brawner, stated the Philippines is seeking to buy more weapon methods from India, citing the standard and affordability of Indian defence equipment. Talking concerning the ongoing supply of BrahMos cruise missiles to Manila, Brawner additionally stated two units of the India-Russia collectively developed missile methods will arrive within the Philippines within the subsequent few years. The Philippines’ maritime dispute within the South China Sea (SCS), or what Manila calls the West Philippine Sea, has seen it scaling up defence cooperation with nations like India and Japan to blunt Chinese aggression and guarantee peace and stability within the contested waters.India may also be part of the Philippines this week for a joint patrol within the South China Sea. In the center of its personal border tensions with China, India in 2023 joined Manila in explicitly asking China to abide by a 2016 arbitral tribunal award that refuted Beijing’s expansive claims over SCS waters. Modi and Marcos are additionally anticipated to debate India’s provide for concessional Line of Credit to fulfill Philippines’ defence necessities, acquisition of naval belongings, and growth of coaching and joint workouts on maritime safety. According to Manila, six agreements in a spread of areas like science and know-how, legislation and tradition are anticipated to be signed.The Modi-Marcos assembly, nonetheless, takes place in the midst of efforts by each India and China to rebuild their relationship and it is going to be attention-grabbing to see how a lot play the South China Sea concern can get within the assembly. During Marcos’ latest go to to the US, President Donald Trump reportedly informed him he would not thoughts if Manila received together with China.The two nations may also focus on efforts to reinforce commerce ties, as they each look to conclude a bilateral commerce take care of the US to keep away from getting caught within the cross hairs of Trump’s commerce conflict. While the US president has introduced 25% tariffs on imports from India, he has slapped Manila with a 19% levy.Bilateral commerce crossed $3 billion for the primary time in 2022-2023 and the 2 sides have agreed to begin negotiations for a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement.According to the ministry of exterior affairs (MEA), improvement cooperation is one other essential side of bilateral relationship. “India is implementing six Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) in the areas of agriculture, disaster risk reduction & management, health-care and livelihood support, in the Philippines, under an MoU on Indian Grant Assistance for the implementation of QIPs, signed on Feb 7, 2023,” stated an official.