Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 7 : Philippines Ambassador to India, Josel Francisco Ignacio, expressed his commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, highlighting progress in trade, investments, and direct air connectivity.
In an interview to ANI, Ambassador Ignacio highlighted how India and the Philippines had celebrated 75 years of their diplomatic relations in 2024 and said that S Jaishankar along with the Philippines' Foreign Secretary, Enrique Manalo had cultivated the relationship and "helped greatly in bringing Philippines-India relations to the level that they are now".
"Dr Jaishankar has been very supportive of the Philippines and given prominence to the intensification of the Philippines India relations," he said.
While acknowledging that there are several areas where the two countries can further strengthen their partnership, he expressed satisfaction with the progress made so far.
"Over the past 10 years and with great help from India's Act East policy turning towards ASEAN and Southeast Asia and the Philippines, our relationship has radically improved, especially over the last five years," he said.
"For instance, our trade in 2023 reached USD 3 billion for the first time, and I'm happy that last year, 2024, we managed to sustain this level of above three billion US dollars. We want to build on that and expand the basket of goods that we have, maybe negotiate a preferential trade agreement in order to fully give full play to complementarities and synergies in our exports and our imports," he added.
He also noted that the Philippines is keen on boosting investments and exploring opportunities in West Bengal, allowing Filipino companies to take advantage of business prospects in the region.
One of his key missions, he said, is to restore direct air connectivity between the Philippines and India. The Ambassador said, "We are happy to see that there is progress happening in that regard... So within this year, we are very confident that we will see the restoration of direct air connectivity and we hope that in the coming years, more airlines will follow suit including from the Philippines."
Speaking about EAM Jaishankar's role in strengthening the ties, Ambassador Ignacio said, "Across the entire Gamut of relations, we are happy that Dr Jaishankar has been really supportive and we look forward to cultivating this good relationship that he has with my foreign minister in the coming months and in the coming years."
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