Modi, Marcos unveil strategic push in Indo-Pacific theatre

India and the Philippines on Tuesday signed nine agreements, including a declaration establishing a strategic partnership, as well as terms of reference for talks between their respective armed forces and cooperation on the peaceful use of outer space.

- ARCHIS MOHAN & AGENCIES

The strategic partnership was announced following talks in New Delhi between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Philippine President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr. The meeting came just a day after the Indian and Philippine navies wrapped up two days of joint exercises near the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea—a region that remains a flashpoint in the long-running maritime dispute between Beijing and Manila.

"India and the Philippines are friends by choice and partners by destiny," Modi said, standing alongside Marcos Jr. "From the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, we are united by shared values. Ours is not just a friendship of the past; it is a promise to the future."

He added that maritime cooperation between the two nations was "both natural and essential" for countries with strong seafaring traditions.