MANILA – At least six agreements between the Philippines and India are expected to sign at least six agreements during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s five-day state visit to New Delhi, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
The number of agreements the two countries will may go up, covering more priority cooperation areas, according to DFA Assistant Secretary Evangeline Ong Jimenez-Ducrocq.
“The areas of cooperation actually are very wide-ranging, but we look forward to expanding them even more. We have, I think, accords of six agreements to be concluded. Though the working day is not yet over, so we expect, I think, more to come online,” Jimenez-Ducrocq said. The cooperation agreements, she said could include accords in “law, culture, science, and technology, and many other areas.”
The President’s state visit to India, upon the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be from August 4 to 8. The visit forms part of the year-long celebration of the two nations’ 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Jimenez-Ducrocq said Marcos’ visit to India includes stops in New Delhi and Bangalore.
“The purpose of this visit is to further strengthen the Philippines-India partnership to proactively engage India in all aspects of the relations and seize opportunities for greater security, economic, science and technology, and people-to-people cooperation,” she said.
“We recognize the economic and strategic potentials of India, and we hope to open up possibilities for the future,” she shared, adding that Marcos will meet with Modi, Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and current Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda. The BJP leads the National Democratic Alliance, the ruling and largest political party in India.
“In his bilateral meeting with PM Modi, the two leaders will discuss closer cooperation in defense and security, trade, investment and economic cooperation, and how to further invigorate people-to-people exchanges,” she added.
Two business events await President Marcos in New Delhi and Bangalore. The DFA official said “several Indian CEOs have requested to meet with the President, a number of whose firms are in active preparations to enter the Philippine market as investors. I think a number of the companies have already some investments in the Philippines and so we’re looking to expand these investments from the same companies or to reach out to new ones,”
Jimenez-Ducrocq said Marcos will also meet with the Indian media and deliver a foreign policy address at the Observer Research Foundation, aside from meeting with the Filipino community upon his arrival in New Delhi in the afternoon of August 4.