The fourth joint defence cooperation committee gathering between India and the Philippines took place on March 31, 2023, in New Delhi.
Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, led the team from India, and Mr. Pablo M. Lorenzo, Assistant Secretary for Strategic Assessments and Foreign Affairs, Department of National Defence, led the group from the Philippines.
Both parties reviewed their ongoing bilateral defence cooperation at the discussion and suggested effective and doable ways to increase their interactions. The co-chairs underlined their dedication to putting the 2006 defence cooperation agreement into action, based on shared ideals of democracy and the rule of law, as well as on mutual trust and understanding.
Both parties agreed to take action to improve their bilateral co-operation in the field of defence industry and technology, and they anticipate more synergy in effectively developing these engagements across the board. They decided to hold routine meetings on topics of shared interest after discussing collaboration in multilateral forums and identifying complementarities in their approaches to the Indo-Pacific region.
It was acknowledged that there was a desire to improve cross-sectoral bilateral partnerships.
