India Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran (Photo courtesy of Jamil Santos)
PH | India seeks to increase naval cooperation with PH | MANILA — India wants to work more with the Philippines’ navy because both countries want to keep the Indo-Pacific area free and stable.
In a news conference on Friday, Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran said that he sees opportunities for cooperation in the naval domain because defence is a “relatively new area” of cooperation between New Delhi and Manila.
He also said that India hasn’t ruled out the possibility of patrols with the Philippine Navy, but that there isn’t a plan to do so yet.
“We do think that improving our national security will lead to more stability, and progress and prosperity in the region will follow from that,” he said.
Kumaran said that the plan to strengthen defence links with Manila is not aimed at any particular country but is a natural step for two democracies.
“We all have a stake in this region, so it’s hard to say what’s driving us,” he said. “But it’s clear that we want the region to change in a way that is based on rules, doesn’t hurt the interests of smaller states, and doesn’t involve aggressive moves.”
The envoy said that India would like to see the Indo-Pacific area grow in a “peaceful way” where there are no restrictions on navigation, trade, or flying over it.
This year was the first time India asked for the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea to be followed. This award threw out Beijing’s broad claims in the area based on its so-called ‘nine-dash line’.
India, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam all protested China’s new “standard map,” which included parts of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea as part of Beijing’s national borders.
The 2023 plan also showed Arunachal Pradesh, the Doklam Plateau, and the Aksai Chin, which is controlled by China but is claimed by India.
As China sticks to its claims in the South China Sea and questions why the map was made public, Kumaran said that countries “should be aware of each other’s concerns.”
“I agree with the way people in the Philippines feel about these kinds of efforts and what I’d call “cartographic expansionism,” he said.
“I think it’s important to say where we stand and what we think. And I think that both India and the Philippines did it well,” he said. (via PNA)
