DURING the 5th meeting of their Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) in New Delhi on Thursday, the Philippines and India agreed to work together to further strengthen their bilateral partnership.
Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar led their respective national delegations in the meeting.

The JCBC is a ministerial-level platform held every two years to discuss issues involving Philippine-Indian relations.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting, Secretary Manalo and Minister Jaishankar noted the complementarities the two countries share as vibrant, youthful democracies and fast-growing economies in the Indo-Pacific region.
In this context, they recalled the guidance from their leaders, President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, as expressed during their telephone conversation on Aug. 5, 2022 to forge a wide-ranging partnership spanning developmental sectors such as health, agriculture, and the digital economy, as well as cooperation in defense and security.
On defense cooperation, both parties expressed keen interest to continue working together in this sector, including through upgraded official interaction among defense agencies, opening of the resident Defense Attaché office in Manila, consideration of India's offer for concessional Line of Credit to meet Philippines' defense requirements, acquisition of naval assets, and expansion of training and joint exercises on maritime security and disaster response, among others.
Acknowledging the growing importance of the maritime sector for both countries, they welcomed the bilateral Maritime Dialogue and the increased cooperation on hydrography.
They also emphasized the utility of maritime domain awareness, and in this context called for the early operationalization of the Standard Operating Procedure for the White Shipping Agreement between the Indian Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). They also look forward to the signing of the MoU on Enhanced Maritime Cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard and PCG.
On law enforcement cooperation, they encouraged early negotiations for a bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Criminal Matters and a Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Persons. The first round of talks will be held in the Philippines in August 2023.
On trade and investment, they expressed satisfaction at the growing pace of bilateral trade, which had for the first time crossed $3 billion in 2022-23 and agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement.
On health and pharmaceuticals, both sides noted the health sector as one of the priority sectors for bilateral engagement. They agreed on an early meeting of the bilateral JWG on Health to devise concrete initiatives to expand cooperation.
Recalling that food security is an area of primary importance to both countries, the Indian delegation conveyed support for sharing of India's knowledge, best practices and experience across the agricultural value chain with the relevant stakeholders in the Philippines.
Both delegations held wide-ranging and substantive discussions on regional and international issues of mutual concern. They underlined that both countries have a shared interest in a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. They underlined the need for peaceful settlement of disputes and for adherence to international law, especially the Unclos and the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea in this regard.
It was agreed to hold the next round of Joint Committee on Bilateral Cooperation in the Philippines on a mutually convenient date.