Expanding its defence footprint in the Indo-Pacific, India has reached an understanding with the Philippines for exporting army equipment to the nation which has been at the receiving finish of China’s expansionist plans in the South China Sea. The deal which was concluded in Manila would allow a wider defence interface between India and the Philippines.

The Philippines shall be the first nation to obtain BrahMos missiles collectively developed by India and Russia. Earlier, New Delhi had prolonged a $100 million defence-related line of credit score to Manila. The Philippines, a key US ally for many years, has been eager to diversify sources for defence hardware, sources aware of the nation’s defence sector.

The Philippines had not too long ago expressed issues over China’s new coast guard regulation. It’s additionally a claimant in the South China Sea area and is the sole nation to strategy the UN tribunal on the situation. The association was concluded following an international ministers-level assembly final November. At the meet, either side aimed to implement the association by way of “military training and education, capacity building, regular goodwill visits and procurement of defence equipment”. The two nations had additionally recognized counter-terrorism as a space for safety cooperation.

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It could also be recalled that New Delhi had donated $500,000 for rehabilitating the Marawi metropolis in Mindanao, which was underneath terrorists’ siege in 2017. Defence ties between New Delhi and Manila have been rising steadily. In 2018, a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defence and Logistics was signed. An MOU on Sharing of White Shipping Information—non-military/non-government transport vessel info was inked final yr. In 2018, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana met his then-Indian counterpart Sitharaman and visited the Indian Western Naval Command headquarters in Mumbai.