🇮🇳🤝🇵🇭 India–Philippines Ties in Focus: Strategic Maritime Cooperation & ASEAN Diplomacy

📝 By Suryavanshi IAS | UPSC GS-2 | Prelims + Mains Ready Blog

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📍Context: Why in News?

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines is on his first visit to India from August 4–8, 2025. The visit is expected to strengthen maritime cooperation, deepen bilateral ties, and reinforce India’s strategic outreach in Southeast Asia amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea.

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🔎 India–Philippines Relations: An Overview

Domain	Developments
Diplomatic	Established in 1949; strengthened under India's Act East Policy
Strategic	Focus on maritime security, defence, and Indo-Pacific freedom of navigation
Economic	Growing bilateral trade, investment in pharma, IT, and electronics
Cultural	People-to-people ties; both democracies with colonial pasts

🌊 Focus of Current Visit (Aug 4–8, 2025)

1. High-level talks with PM Narendra Modi

2. Signing of MoUs and Agreements

3. Visit to Bengaluru for tech & industrial collaboration

4. Defence & maritime cooperation in the West Philippine Sea

5. Symbolic events: Rajghat visit, Rashtrapati Bhavan reception

➡️ Timed with Indian Navy destroyers docking at Manila Port and joint patrols in the South China Sea

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🔧 Strategic Significance

🔹 1. Maritime Security

• Joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea

• Freedom of navigation under UNCLOS

• Indian Navy's increasing footprint in Indo-Pacific

🔹 2. Act East Policy in Action

• Continued outreach to ASEAN partners

• Philippines as a key ASEAN member with maritime strategic value

🔹 3. Balancing China’s Dominance

• Both India and the Philippines oppose unilateral maritime claims

• Common interest in rules-based Indo-Pacific order

🔹 4. Defence Partnership

• Philippines interested in Indian defence exports (BrahMos deal signed in 2022)

• Naval cooperation including training and patrols

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🌐 Link to India’s Foreign Policy

Pillar	Action
Act East Policy	Deepened relations with ASEAN, including the Philippines
Indo-Pacific Strategy	Cooperation with like-minded navies to ensure open sea lanes
Multilateral Engagement	Shared vision at ASEAN Summits & East Asia Summit
Strategic Autonomy	Countering China without military alliances

📘 Previous Diplomatic Engagements

Year	Event
2023	PM Modi–Marcos Jr. met at 20th ASEAN-India Summit (Jakarta)
2024	Met again at 21st ASEAN-India Summit (Laos)
Mar 2025	EAM Jaishankar visited Manila; met Defence and Foreign Ministers
Jul 2025	Jaishankar-Manalo meeting at ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meet

📚 UPSC GS Paper 2 Linkages

• Bilateral relations with neighbouring and strategic countries

• India and ASEAN: Shared interests in peace, security, prosperity

• Effect of policies of developed and developing nations on India’s interests

• Regional groupings: ASEAN, EAS, IORA, etc.

• Role of diaspora (Filipino Indians, cultural links)

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🧠 UPSC MAINS Practice Questions

GS-2 (250 words):

“India’s deepening maritime cooperation with the Philippines highlights its evolving Indo-Pacific strategy. Discuss the significance of such bilateral engagements for India’s foreign policy.”

GS-2 (150 words):

“Evaluate the importance of the Philippines in the context of India’s Act East Policy and ASEAN engagement.”

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📌 Previous Year UPSC Prelims Questions (Past 8 Years)

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❓Q1. With reference to the ‘East Asia Summit’, consider the following statements: (UPSC Prelims 2020)

1. India is a member of the East Asia Summit.

2. The East Asia Summit is held under the aegis of ASEAN.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

✅ Answer: c)

📘 Explanation: India has been a member since 2005; the EAS is ASEAN-led.

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❓Q2. In which one of the following groups are all the four countries members of G20? (UPSC Prelims 2022)

a) Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey

b) Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand

c) Brazil, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam

d) Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea

✅ Answer: a)

📘 Explanation: Malaysia, Iran, Singapore are not G20 members. India, Philippines not in same grouping—but understanding international groupings is crucial.

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❓Q3. Which one of the following statements correctly describes the meaning of legal tender money? (UPSC Prelims 2018)

While not directly about foreign policy, currency-related questions help in Indo-Pacific trade context.

✅ Answer (for your reference):

Legal tender is currency that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt.

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🔍 Keywords for Answer Writing

• Strategic convergence

• Maritime domain awareness

• Act East Policy

• ASEAN centrality

• Indo-Pacific vision

• Freedom of Navigation (FoN)

• South China Sea dispute

• Multilateral diplomacy

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🧾 Summary Table

Aspect	Key Takeaway
Bilateral Engagement	Stronger India–Philippines ties
Maritime Cooperation	Joint patrols in South China Sea
ASEAN Outreach	Continuous high-level interaction
Foreign Policy Vision	Indo-Pacific, Act East, strategic autonomy

📌 Suryavanshi IAS Suggests:

Prepare maps of Southeast Asia & Indo-Pacific. Practice India’s engagement with ASEAN nations individually, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and now, Philippines.