The Philippines intends to maintain its close ties with India amid the current geopolitical condition, President Marcos said.
Marcos said this as he and Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita expressed both sides' intention to elevate their 75-year-old bilateral ties during the latter's courtesy call on the President on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
“The interactions between India and the Philippines have certainly increased in the past few years. And certainly we would like to continue that closeness,” the President told Margherita.
“Well, the plan to elevate the bilateral relations is very interesting because in terms of geopolitical issues. Whereas we used to speak of Pacific or Asia Pacific. It’s now Indo-Pacific. And that’s why I think that the alliances and the partnerships that we make become more and more important,” he added.
Margherita, on the other hand, said he wants to convey to the Chief Executive the respect from the people of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“On behalf of ( the Indian people and Prime Minister), I am here to convey our deep regards to the great nation of the Philippines and to you. It is a milestone that we have to mark our 75th year of diplomatic relations of our great nations,” he said.
The Philippines and India established formal diplomatic relations on Nov. 16, 1949. Last November marked the 75th anniversary of the two nations’ diplomatic relations.
In 2023, total trade with India reached $3.08 billion, with exports valued at $1.1 billion and imports at $1.98 billion.
India ranked as the Philippines’ 15th top trading partner.
There are 53 signed agreements between the Philippines and India in the fields of trade, investment, science and technology, maritime, air services, taxation, culture, energy, agriculture, and defense, among others.