In a first, New Delhi will add a defense attaché to its embassy in Manila. This is because security ties between the two countries are growing stronger as a result of China’s increasing aggression, which has led both India and the Philippines to lean more toward the US under the Indo-Pacific policy framework.
A decision was made at the last meeting of the Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC) and Service-to-Service Meeting, which was held in New Delhi last month. This means that India will soon send a “Defence Attaché” to its office in the Philippines.
This happened less than a year after the Philippines signed a $375 million deal with India to buy BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles for its military. At the same time, China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea were making China more aggressive toward the Philippines. In January 2022, the deal was signed.
Sources say that putting a Defense Attaché at the Indian Embassy will not only help with day-to-day security issues, but it will also open up more ways for both countries to buy weapons for defense. At the Embassy, plans call for a special defense wing to be set up. At the Embassy, plans call for a special defense wing to be set up.
The move is likely to make the Philippines-India Defense Cooperation Agreement from 2006 and the Philippines-India Defense Engagement Plan for 2023–2025 even stronger.
Sources say that the move will also save time and money as the armed forces, especially the two navies, do more training and joint drills in the coming months.
Full-Time Defence Attaché Will Help In ‘Better Strategic Planning’
Another source says that the posting of a full-time Defense Attaché will also help with “better strategic planning” as India looks to strengthen its position in the maritime domain alongside the US as part of the Indo-Pacific strategic framework.
The source also said that such a move is “imperative” for New Delhi because of how important ASEAN is to the Indo-Pacific policy. This is something that US Vice President Joe Biden has talked about a lot. Also, India’s Act East program still sees the Philippines as an important partner.
During the last India-ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting, which took place in November 2022 in Siem Reap, Cambodia, reports said that the decision to send a Defense Attaché to the Philippines was also talked about by both sides.
Admiral R. Hari Kumar, the head of the Indian Navy, gave 21 members of the Philippine Navy badges and pins for operating the BrahMos cruise weapon. This was done in February of last year. The Philippine Marines will use the BrahMos as an anti-ship weapon that can be fired from land. The South China Sea is one place where it could be used.
At the same time, security and defense ties are growing between Manila and Washington. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin met with Carlito Galvez Jr., the senior undersecretary and officer in charge of the Department of National Defense of the Philippines, in Washington, DC, last week to strengthen military-to-military ties between the US and the Philippines.
“We both want the Indo-Pacific to be free and open,” he said.We’ve seen an uptick in pressure and dangerous operations, including in the South China Sea, which is worrying. “We are still very committed to our alliance responsibilities,” Austin said last week when he met Galvez at the Pentagon.
