Manila [Philippines], July 20 : Indian ambassador to the Philippines, Shambhu Kumaran, has discussed maritime preparation with the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Manila here.
PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio M Abu welcomed the Indian Ambassador at the National Headquarters, Port Area, in Manila on Wednesday.
During the meeting, they discussed the PCG's collaboration with the Embassy of India in the Philippines on maritime preparation through its strengthened commitment to ensuring a safe and secure maritime environment, PCG's Facebook post read.
Moreover, PCG Commandant Admiral Abu and Ambassador Kumaran established priorities, capabilities, authority, limitations, and procedures relating to marine domain awareness and law enforcement operations, outlining probable procedures when exchanging data on threat evaluations and particular targets of interest.
After that, Kumaran tweeted, "Thank you Admiral Abu for the warmth of your welcome and substantive discussions. Look forward to working with you and the entire @coastguardph team to implement the next steps in our partnership towards a safe and secure Indo-Pacific."
India and the Philippines are exploring various avenues to enhance their defence cooperation, with a particular emphasis on maritime security.
Earlier, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Philippines (SFA), Enrique A Manalo, was in India from June 27 to 30 where he and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed keen interest to continue to work together in this sector, including through the regular or upgraded official level interaction among defence agencies, the opening of the resident Defense Attaché office in Manila, consideration of India’s offer for concessional Line of Credit to meet Philippines’ defence requirements, acquisition of naval assets, and expansion of training and joint exercises on maritime security and disaster response, among others.
On maritime cooperation, both ministers acknowledged the growing importance of the maritime sector for both countries and welcomed the bilateral Maritime Dialogue and the increased cooperation on hydrography.
Both Ministers emphasized the utility of maritime domain awareness and in this context called for early operationalization of the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the White Shipping Agreement between the Indian Navy (IN) and the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG). They looked forward to the signing of the MoU on Enhanced Maritime Cooperation between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Philippines Coast Guard (PCG).
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