President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed the friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and India.
Marcos, in an Instagram post, revealed he had a phone call with Modi last Friday, Aug. 5, the same day he presided over the fourth Cabinet meeting.
“Nagagalak naman tayo na makausap sa telepono ang punong ministro na si Narendra Modi (I’m happy that I spoke over the phone to Prime Minister Narendra Modi),” he wrote.
“Tiyak natin na mas iigting ang ating magandang relasyon sa bansang India (I’m sure our relations will get stronger with India),” Marcos added.
Malacañang has yet to give more details about the phone call between the two countries’ top officials as of posting time.
For his part, Modi said he was looking forward to closely work with Marcos to “continue strengthening the India-Philippines ties.”
“Pleased to speak with President @bongbongmarcos today. I conveyed my best wishes to him for a successful tenure as the President of the Republic of the Philippines,” he said in a Twitter post on Friday.
In May, Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran said Marcos was “very keen” on developing the country’s domestic pharmaceutical sector and Indian firms “are looking forward to a strong engagement.”
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“The Embassy will remain strongly engaged with the incoming administration to swiftly implement new initiatives to further strengthen and deepen bilateral ties,” the ambassador said.
He said that India will continue working with the Philippines on its bilateral ties focusing on the development partnership in the areas of agriculture, health, digital governance and finance, as well as cooperation on defense and security.