India-Philippines Strategic Partnership: Defence, Trade & Plan Of Action | UPSC

India and the Philippines developed a Strategic Partnership in 2025. This glorifies their bilateral relations. It means closer collaboration. Some of the notable ones are defence and trade. They also involve security at sea, technology and cultural relations. Such collaboration shows their dedication. Both of them are committed to stability in the region. The latter also favours a rules-based Indo-Pacific.

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India-Philippines relations are necessary for UPSC preparation, primarily in GS Paper 2 (International Relations), under India's foreign policy, Act East Policy, and strategic partnerships. The relations cover defence cooperation, trade, maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, and ASEAN engagement, relevant to India's geopolitical and economic interests. Join the UPSC coaching today and boost your preparation.

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Why In The News?

India and the Philippines are in the news. In 2025, they will raise their relationship to a Strategic Partnership level. This helps a lot in enhancing cooperation. There will be more co-operation in defence and trade. It will improve maritime security and technology as well. Lastly, the Indo-Pacific regional stability will be boosted. This announcement was made when the President of the Philippines was on a state visit to India. The announcement accompanied an extensive Plan of Action for 2025-2029.

What Is the India-Philippines Strategic Partnership? 

In 2025, the India-Philippines Strategic Partnership was created. It is a detailed two-sided collaboration strategy. Alliance deepens friendliness in politics, economics, defence, and technology. This is guided by a Plan of Action 2025-2029. As a plan, it is aimed at boosting trading and sea security. It also enhances defence cooperation by embracing the BrahMos missile package. Such critical elements are science collaboration and space collaboration. There are digital infrastructural projects, as well. The friendship fosters the people-to-people exchange. It also includes a commitment to a free, open and rules-based Indo-Pacific. Without ASEAN centrality, regional stability and prosperity can not be neglected.

Historical and Strategic Context

• Beginning Relations: The initial relations between India and the Philippines started in 1949 with the independence of the Philippines. This was premised on common ideals of democracy, anti-colonialism and Asian unity.
• Non-Aligned Movement (NAM): India has been engaged in NAM, the ASEAN-India dialogue, and other multilateral platforms with both countries.
• Strategic Significance: The Philippines is a member of ASEAN and is in the South China Sea, which is one of the key aspects of India's Act East Policy and Indo-Pacific vision.
• Recent Upgradation: In 2023, relations were upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to reflect an expanded level of defence, economic and technological cooperation.

Key Areas of Cooperation

1. Defence and Maritime Security

• Joint naval exercises and coast guard cooperation.
• Supply BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines (the first ASEAN country to procure them).
• Capacity-building in maritime domain awareness.

2. Trade and Economic Engagement

• Bilateral trade is expanding; discussions on a Preferential Trade Agreement are underway.
• Cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure, IT, and renewable energy.

3. Technology and Digital Partnership

• Collaboration on Sovereign Data Cloud and digital public infrastructure.
• Sharing of India's fintech and digital governance expertise.

4. Legal and Consular Cooperation

• Agreements on visa facilitation, education exchanges, and labour mobility.
• Protection of Indian workers in the Philippines and Filipino workers in India.

5. Regional and Multilateral Cooperation

• Common positions on Indo-Pacific stability, freedom of navigation, and international law (UNCLOS).
• Collaboration in ASEAN-India, East Asia Summit, and Quad-plus frameworks.

Trade and Economic Engagement

• Bilateral trade has been committed to 3.3 billion dollars by 2024-25. It plans to enhance cooperation further via a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), which is under negotiation to ease trade and investment.
• Economic co-operation includes pharmaceuticals (the Philippines is the recipient of nearly 20 per cent of Indian pharma exports to ASEAN), fintech, renewable energy, critical minerals, electric vehicles, digital technologies, biotechnology and infrastructure development.
• Infrastructural agreement entails the Philippines allowing India to participate in massive infrastructural projects, where India will check in with platforms such as the Gatishakti platform to stimulate coherent development.

Technology and Digital Cooperation

• India has joined forces with the Philippines in its bid to set up a Sovereign Data Cloud infrastructure project to improve digital sovereignty and secure management of data.
• Some foreign cooperation established in joint research is in virology, artificial intelligence, digital forensics, additive manufacturing, and capacity building on cybersecurity.
• The Philippines has been accepted into the Information Fusion Centre Indian Ocean region (IFC IO), allowing maritime domain awareness and information sharing.
   

Legal and Consular Agreements

• The two nations signed the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) to enable cooperation on criminal matters and the Treaty on Transfer of Sentenced Persons to enable prisoners to be sentenced close to their relatives, which helps in social rehabilitation.
• The Philippines also granted Indian tourists a free visa. India is providing a free e-tourist visa to Filipino citizens for one year, starting August 2025, increasing tourists and people-to-people exchanges.

People-to-People and Cultural Relations

• India and the Philippines promote educational and professional exchanges, including offering scholarships through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme and youth exchange programs.
• The Indian diaspora in the Philippines numbers over 70,000, reinforcing social and cultural bonds[previous conversation.
• Bilateral celebrations such as issuing commemorative postal stamps on national flowers marked the 75 years of diplomatic relations at the 2025 state visit[previous conversation.

Strategic Importance for Indo-Pacific and Regional Architecture

• The partnership reinforces India's Act East Policy by solidifying ties with a key ASEAN member and enhancing India's Southeast Asian footprint.
• The Philippines' strategic location in the South China Sea is pivotal for engagement in regional security and rules-based order advocacy in the Indo-Pacific.
• India and the Philippines emphasise ASEAN centrality to foster a peaceful, stable, and rules-based international maritime order.

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Plan of Action 2025-2029

The Plan of Action adopted with the Strategic Partnership sets a roadmap for deeper cooperation, including:

• Enhanced political and strategic dialogue through frequent high-level exchanges and joint bodies like the Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC).
• Expanded defence cooperation, covering joint military training, logistics support, and collaboration in the defence industry.
• Promoting trade and investment by removing market access barriers and strengthening economic ties.
• Increased collaboration in the digital economy, AI, renewable energy, biotechnology, and infrastructure connectivity.
• Stronger people-to-people connections through scholarships, cultural exchanges, and direct flights are planned between the two countries starting in 2025.
• Joint efforts on maritime security and building resilience against climate change, addressing shared regional challenges.

News Overview

The Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently visited India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited him. This is a significant milestone visit. It boosts the bilateral ties of the two nations.

Key Highlights of the Visit:

• Strategic Partnership To The Next Level: India and the Philippines have elevated their relationship. It is now a Strategic Partnership. This signifies increased cooperation. The cooperation will focus on strategic areas.
• Maritime Security and Defence Dialogue: Both parties will establish a Ministerial Defence Dialogue and strengthen connections between their defence industries.
• BrahMos Expansion and Joint Production: The Philippines reaffirmed its intention to expand the BrahMos missile deal, including joint production and co-development.
• Regional Cooperation in Indo-Pacific: India affirmed ASEAN's central role and backed the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling on the South China Sea, which supports the Philippines' territorial claim.
• Commitments: The two leaders signed MOUs in four areas—pharmaceuticals, digital payments, and green energy—and pledged to advance digital trade by 2030.
• People-to-People Engagement: India introduced new professional scholarships and launched youth exchange programs.

Conclusion

The strategic partnership between India and the Philippines goes beyond traditional diplomacy. It has grown into a broad relationship covering defence, economy, technology, and cultural ties—all driven by a shared goal of a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

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