Brief Brief on India-Philippines Bilateral Relations

 

India and the Philippines formally established diplomatic relations on 26 November 1949, shortly after both countries gained independence [Philippines in 1946 and India in 1947]. Relations have been friendly with shared values and commonalities, such as vibrant democratic polity, pluralistic society, rule of law, an independent judiciary and free press, and the widespread use of the English language. However, it would be fair to say that despite shared values and complementarities, the full potential of the relationship between the two countries is only gradually being realized.

Culturally, while many of the countries in the region enjoyed civilizational links with India, in the case of the Philippines, this is yet to be fully explored and documented in a systematic way. However, the presence of numerous words with Sanskrit roots in Tagalog(the local language) and objects such as the Laguna Copper Plate inscription, the oldest artifact discovered in the Philippines written in Kavi derived from Pallava script; the golden statue of Agusan Tara; and the localized version of Indian epic Ramayana (Maharadia Lawana) testify to the historical links between the two countries.

When India launched the Look East Policy and intensified partnership with ASEAN in 1992, this also resulted in stronger relations with countries in the region including the Philippines, both bilaterally and in the regional context. With the Act East Policy initiated in 2014, the relationship with Philippines has diversified further into political-security; trade and industry and people-to-people realms. Coupled with current development trajectory in the Philippines, the stage appears to be set for further intensification in bilateral relations, covering a broad canvas of consultations and cooperation on matters related to foreign policy, security, defence, trade, finance, tourism, health, agriculture, people-to-people relations and culture.

1. Political relations:

(a) High level visits/Interactions:

Bilateral relations have strengthened over the years with the exchange of high level visits, telephonic conversations, virtual meetings, etc. which continued even during the Covid-19 pandemic. The year 2022 also saw many high level interactions. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi spoke over phone with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. [05 Aug] and congratulated him for his election as the 17th President of the Philippines. PM reiterated the important role that Philippines plays in India’s Act East Policy and its Indo-Pacific Vision, and expressed the desire to further expand bilateral relations. Earlier, EAM Dr. S Jaishakar visited Manila from 13 to 15 February and met Secretary of Foreign Affairs(SFA) Mr. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. during which the whole gamut of bilateral relations was discussed. Upon EAM’s invitation SFA Locsin visited India on a bilateral visit from 23 to 26 April and also participated in Raisina Dialogue 2022 during the visit. On 30 June, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, MOS(RRS) attended the inauguration of H.E. Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as 17 th President of the Philippines as the Special Envoy of the PM. On 12 Nov, 2022 EAM met the SFA, Mr. Enrique A. Manalo on the sidelines of the 19th ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. Both took stock of the bilateral relations and agreed to explore the potential for further strengthening it.

In June 2020, PM had held a telephonic conversation with President Rodrigo Duterte during which PM assured President Duterte of India’s commitment to support the Philippines in its fight against the pandemic. In November 2020, EAM and SFA Locsin co-chaired the 4 th bilateral Joint Commission meeting in virtual mode. The two Foreign Ministers also held a telephonic conversation in April 2021 and discussed COVID-19 situation and the Indo-Pacific.

Other recent high level interactions include state visit of President Shri Ram Nath Kovind [October 2019 to mark 70 th anniversary of diplomatic relations], President Duterte (January 2018 for 25 th ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit) and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi (November 2017 for 15 th ASEAN India Summit, with a strong bilateral component). EAM also met SFA Locsin in August 2019 on the margins of the 9th East Asia Summit (EAS) and 26th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Bangkok.

Past visits between the two countries include visit of the Philippines Vice President Diosdado Macapagal to India in 1961, stop-over visit of Philippines President H.E. Ferdinand E. Marcos [1976] and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the Philippines in 1981. The ‘Look East policy’ resulted in increased frequency of high-level contacts and saw visits to the Philippines by Presidents R. Venkatraman [1991] and Abdul Kalam [2006], Cabinet Ministers and other political dignitaries from India. Similarly, from the Philippines, there have been visits by Presidents Fidel Ramos [1997] and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [2007], Cabinet Ministers and other high level political dignitaries

The annual ASEAN/EAS Summits have provided an excellent platform for regular meetings between leaders from both countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting with President Aquino of Philippines in November 2014 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar during the 12 th ASEAN-India/9th EAS summit. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visited Cebu, Philippines in January 2007 for the 5 th ASEAN-India and 2 nd East Asia Summits. The Vice President of the Philippines Mr. Jejomar C. Binay led a high-powered delegation to India in December 2012 for the 10 th ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi.

(b) Institutional Bilateral Mechanisms:

The umbrella bilateral mechanism is the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) co-chaired by EAM and the Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which met for the 4th time virtually on 06 November 2020. The meeting reviewed recent developments in bilateral relations and discussed the future trajectory of engagement in all the areas of mutual interests. Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Albert F. del Rosario visited India in October 2015 for the 3rd JCBC. During the visit he called on the Vice-President of India and also delivered the 2nd Nehru-Rizal Lecture.

Official level foreign policy and security dialogue meetings have been held regularly (from 1994 and from 2004 respectively, when the security dialogue was upgraded to a ‘Strategic Dialogue’ at the 2 nd JCBC). The 13th Foreign Office Consultations(FOC) and 4th Strategic Dialogue(SD) was held in Manila on 17 August and 18 August 2022 respectively. The 12 th Foreign Office Consultations(FOC) & 3rd Strategic Dialogue(SD) was held in New Delhi on 27 February 2017. During the meeting, the entire gamut of India-Philippine relationship was discussed and views were exchanged on regional and global issues.

(c) Support at International Fora:

The Philippines has been supportive of a greater role for India in the UN Security Council. They supported our candidature for the non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the term 2021-22 as well as earlier in 2011-12. Philippines expressed support for the G-4 initiative for Security Council Reform at a meeting by all G-4 HOMs in Manila with Secretary for Foreign Affairs on 05 November, 2013 which was reiterated at the Foreign Policy Consultation/ Strategic Dialogue in March 2015. Philippines supported India in the recent election to IAEA, INTERPOL, IMO, CLCS and ITU. There are regular consultations between delegations of both countries in the UN and other multilateral fora. Several Foreign Service officers from the Philippines have attended the ASEAN diplomats’ course that is held at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service(SSIFS) in India.

(d) Humanitarian assistance:

India has been offering humanitarian assistance to the Philippines from time to time, though at a modest level. In February 2006, in the aftermath of massive rock slide-debris avalanche in the province of Southern Leyte, which led to death toll of 1,126, Govt. of India provided around 28 tons of relief material worth US$260,000. Again in December 2006, GOI donated US$ 250,000 for relief and rehabilitation of communities affected by super typhoon Reming/Durian which resulted in 1399 deaths. Following the tragic loss of life, livelihood and property as a result of typhoon Pablo/Bopha, which struck southern Philippines in December 2012, the Government of India provided disaster relief assistance of $200,000 to the Philippines Government and $ 100,000 as disaster relief assistance following the October 2013 earthquake in Bohol. India also sent 15 tonnes of relief material in the aftermath of the super typhoon Haiyan(Yolanda) which occurred in November 2013. We provided immediate relief assistance of $ 500,000 (equivalent to 25 million pesos) on 11 July 2017 for the relief and rehabilitation efforts underway in the city of Marawi which had come under siege from May 23, 2017 when armed terrorists belonging to the Maute group with reported allegiance to ISIS took over the city

2. Defence relations:

The main stay of bilateral defence cooperation continues to remain capacity building with training exchanges and visits of delegations and units of the Indian Navy (including aircraft) and Coast Guard. However, defence ties were significantly enhanced with the signing in January 2022 of a contract worth US$ 374.9 million to supply the BrahMos missile system.

Secretary, National Defense, Delfin Lorenzana visited India with a five-member delegation for the first ever bilateral Defence Ministerial visit from 09-11 Mar 2018. Apart from bilateral interactions with his counterpart, he also visited defence establishments and leading defence Industrial/ equipment production centres in India. Philippines participated in the Def Expo 2018 (11-14 Apr 2018 at Chennai) with a two-member delegation. Both countries signed an Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) on Defence Cooperation in 2006. A Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC) at the Joint Secretary level was set up under this MoU, which has met three times so far, most recently on 31 Jan 2020. At the last JDCC Meeting, Service to Service Talks were also held between the representatives of Army, Navy and Air Force leading to a roadmap for enhanced military level engagement over the next three years.

The two countries also signed an MoU on Defence Industry and Logistics cooperation in Nov 2017 and have also set up a separate Joint Defence Industry and Logistics Committee (JDILC) under the MoU. This mechanism has met thrice, including recently on 11 March, 2022. MoU between Indian Navy and the Philippines Coast Guard on sharing of White Shipping information was signed on 18 Oct 2019. Indian Navy and Philippines Navy are also working on Hydrographic Cooperation.

Financial Year	India's Export to Philippines	India's Import from Philippines	Trade with Philippines
2015-16	1353.34	542.16	1895.50
2016-17	1482.52	494.62	1977.14
2017-18	1692.83	764.36	2457.20
2018-19	1743.64	581.10	2324.74
2019-20	1525.96	572.47	2049.79
2020-21	1457.30	572.47	2029.77
2021-22	2107.24	729.08	2836.31

[in US$ million]

The major items of export from India to Philippines include engineering goods; automobiles part and accessories, transmission apparatus, electric transformers, petroleum products, semi-finished products of iron and steel; drugs and pharmaceuticals, organic and inorganic chemicals; electronic goods; plastic and linoleum: rice; bovine meat, oil seeds; tobacco; groundnuts and others. Philippines account for around 20% of total Indian pharma exports to the ASEAN region. The major items of import from Philippines include Electrical machinery; semi-conductors; ores, slag and ashes; copper, lead; plastics; pearls and precious stones; residue and waste from food industry; animal fodder and others.

In April 2022, an Agreement on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Custom Matters was signed which would facilitate trade.

(b) Bilateral Investments:

Indian investment in the Philippines has over the years been mainly in the areas of IT& ITES [BPO]; pharmaceuticals and healthcare; yarn and textiles; infrastructure (airport); chemicals; automobiles; agriculture; biomass energy; FMCG and others. Estimated Indian investments in the Philippines are valued around US $ 5 billion. Notable among these are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS); Infosys; Tech Mahindra; Wipro; HCL Technologies; HGS in IT-BPO Sector; Madras Security Printers, PeopleStrong, Ramco Systems Ltd (ITeS); TVS; Bajaj; Mahindra; Tata Motors in automobile sector; Lupin, Torrent, ZydusCadilla, Sun pharma, Hetero Drug, Claris Life sciences etc in pharmaceutical sector; Nephroplus in healthcare sector; Indo-Phil (Aditya Birla Group) in textile; Splash Corporation (Wipro) in FMCG sector; GMR Group (airport); Prasad Seeds, Advanta Seeds, Bioseeds, Agri Exim in agriculture; Thermax Instrumentation Ltd, ISGEC in biomass energy; Sun Source Energy in solar energy; UPL, Indofil, RM Chemicals in chemical sector; and others. Philippine investments in India have been modest in the past and mainly comprised companies like V. Merida (processing of waste), Ayala (Renewable energy, construction & ITES); SPI Technologies (ITES); Del Monte & Liwayway (Food processing); Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company (AG&P); Llyod Laboratories, IPI (Pharma). Recently, major investments have been made by Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) and AC Energy Corporation in India.

(c) Financial Sector Engagement and Development Cooperation:

Financial Technology (Fintech) is one of the focused sectors identified by the leaders of both the countries. India and Philippines are working on finalizing MoU on Cooperation in the Fintech to expand cooperation. Further, to enhance Development Cooperation, both countries are finalizing an Agreement on Quick Impact Projects(QIP), which would open, for the first time a regular grant funding window for the Philippines.

(d) Agriculture:

Agriculture is another focused sector identified by the leaders of both the countries. India is working on sharing its expertise and experience with the Philippines in the agricultural field in line with the Philippines government’s focus on transforming agricultural sector for enhancing food security at affordable prices. Revised MoU on Cooperation in Agriculture and Related Fields between India-Philippines was signed on 13 November 2017. The 2 nd meeting of the India-Philippines Joint Working Group (JWG) on Agriculture was held on 18 May 2018 at Manila. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare met Mr. William Dar, Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Philippines in New Delhi on 21 April 2022 during which discussions on agriculture and blue economy werd held.

(e) Health and Medicine:

Health and Medicine is another focused sector identified by the leaders for bilateral engagement. The Philippines recognises India as a global leader in terms of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. Philippines was the first ASEAN Member State to grant Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Presently, Philippines account for nearly 20% of total Indian pharma exports to the ASEAN region and India continues to be the largest supplier of pharma products to Philippines. An MOU on cooperation in Traditional Medicine between Philippines Institute of Traditional Medicine and Alternative Health Care (PITAHC) and National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur was signed on 20 April 2022. Both countries are working on finalizing MOU in the field of Medical Product Regulation between CDSCO, GoI and FDA, Philippines. The 3 rd JWG Meeting on Health was held on 19-20 April 2018 in Manila, under the overall framework of India-Philippines MoU in the field of Health and Medicine signed in New Delhi on 5 October 2007.

(f) Tourism

A bilateral MoU on Tourism Cooperation was signed on 18 October 2019. The 1 st meeting of India-Philippines JWG on Tourism was held on October 8, 2020 which covered various issues to enhance two-way tourist flow. Discussions were held on expanding tourism flows, including direct air connectivity, links between travel bodies, ease of visa access for Indian nationals and synergies in promotional events. On September 27, 2021 the new Air Services Agreement was signed which is expected to facilitate direct air connectivity between India and Philippines. Sh. Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism met Ms Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Philippines in April 2022 on the sidelines of World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC)’s Global Summit held from 20- 22 April, 2022 in Manila.

The major Indian business associations in the Philippines are the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines (FICCI-Philippines) and Indian Business Forum(IBF). The Philippines-India Business Council, a sub-Committee of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry, helps organize business networking meetings for visiting Indian business delegations. A recent addition to the Indian diaspora business organizations has been the launch of Indian Women in Enterprise (I-WE) Philippines, an organization bringing together women professionals and MSME women entrepreneurs.

There have been a number of Indian students coming to the Philippines for medical studies in recent years. With English being widely spoken in the Philippines, it has attracted students in the past also for Management (Asian Institute of Management has Indian students), Information Technology, Nursing, Christian Theology & Divinity, Church Music and Pilot training courses among others. It is estimated that there aremore than 16000 students currently, with the majority of them pursuing pre medicine/ medicine.

The resident Indian community is fairly active and they celebrate Indian festivals and organize various social events. There are cultural associations such as Indian Ladies Club, Bharati lndian Expats women's Association (comprising spouses of expats) and spiritual organisations such as Chinmaya Mission, Sri Satya Sai Organization, Art of Living, Mahaveer Foundation, Brahma Kumaris, etc. in the Philippines. There are several places of religious worship, such as Sikh Gurudwaras including Khalsa Diwan and Hindu Temples like ISKCON across the country.

29 November , 2022