India is the Philippines’ new friend

After 74 years of diplomatic relations, both countries have found momentum. Read Marites Vitug's weekly exclusive newsletter Sui Generis by becoming a Rappler+ member.

When Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo was in New Delhi in late June to visit his counterpart, their meeting created new sparks. For the first time, India publicly endorsed the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea, supporting the Philippines’ victory against China.

While India’s support for the arbitral ruling came seven years late, it signified a bloom in the relations of the Philippines and India. It’s as if both countries failed to pay attention to each other through most of its 74 years of diplomatic relations – and woke up to compelling new realities that called for building closer cooperation.

Manalo’s visit was only the fifth time that the India-Philippines Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation or JCBC met. One could sense optimism in some of the accounts of the English-language Indian press. What was most striking was what the host of a television show said after interviewing Manalo. , a foreign affairs scholar, gushed that the Philippines is an “undiscovered gem in India’s Act-East diplomacy.

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