India became the Philippines' fifth strategic partner as both countries have forged the declaration of their strategic partnership during President Marcos State Visit in India.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is formally welcomed by Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, India, on Aug. 5, 2025. (Photo courtesy of PPA)

President Marcos and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the presentation of the declaration on the establishment of strategic partnership between the two countries, as well as the plan of action for its implementation from 2025 to 2029.

At least 10 more documents on various partnerships were also formalized by the Philippines and India during Marcos' and Modi's bilateral meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India on Tuesday, Aug. 5.

These agreements involved defense, tourism, digital technology, space research, cultural exchange, and coast guard among others.

Marcos and Modi witnessed the presentation of these documents namely:

New era PH-India engagement

With the declaration of their strategic partnership, Marcos said it heralds a "new era of closer, multidimensional, and impactful engagement between the Philippines and India."

He added that for the Philippines, it is a momentous decision that presents more possibilities between the two countries, especially in defense and economic cooperation.

"Today, India becomes only the fifth strategic partner for the Philippines. This new apex attests as much to the remarkably rapid growth, broadening and deepening of our 75-year-old bilateral relationship," he said in his speech.

"The possibilities represented by the strong upward trajectory of our two economies, as it does to the growing alignment of our interests and views on the challenges and imperatives of our time," he added.

Under this elevated partnership, Marcos bared that they decided to expedite the work to forge a bilateral preferential trade agreement.

"We looked at leveraging mutual opportunities to boost two-way investment. Our fast-growing, innovative private enterprises will play an important role in our common march towards progress and development, facilitating innovation, technology transfer, and upskilling and generating employment for our people," he said.

The President also stated that they greed to continue levelling up the two countries' collaboration in defense and security.

"We concurred that we should be accompanied with intensified dialogue and exchanges between our defense establishments. So we have agreed to establish mechanisms for service-to-service talks, for information sharing, and training exchanges amongst our militaries," he said.

"We will foster naval and Coast Guard interoperability via port calls, cooperative activities, and capacity building in the maritime domain," he added.

Marcos said they will continue to enact policies to ensure that their civilizational, cultural, and people-to-people ties continue to prosper.

During his closed-door meeting with Modi, he said he reiterated the introduction of visa-free entry privileges and extended an invitation for more Indian tourists to visit the Philippines.

"I thanked Prime Minister Modi, in turn, for the introduction of a scheme to grant visa-free of charge to Filipino tourists traveling to India. We welcomed the resumption of direct flights from October this year and renewed our commitment to sustaining and expanding such direct air connectivity," he said.

The President further thanked the Indian government for rescuing Filipino nationals in 2024 after a Houthi rebel attack.

He reiterated that the Philippines-India strategic partnership "will doubtless resonate beyond the confines of our bilateral relationship."