The Indian Coast Guard and the Philippine Coast Guard today reaffirmed their commitment to deepen maritime cooperation during the first Annual Bilateral Meeting held in Manila. The Ministry of Defence said that the meeting, convened under the 2023 Memorandum of Understanding between the two forces, reviewed recent ship visits, professional exchanges and cooperative activities, and agreed on measures to further enhance interoperability and operational coordination.
During the meeting, both sides noted that the engagement advances India’s Act East Policy and aligns with regional maritime initiatives such as SAGAR and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. Discussions focused on expanding collaboration in maritime search and rescue, law enforcement, marine pollution response and capacity-building to strengthen joint preparedness and response mechanisms. The two sides further underlined that strengthened Coast Guard cooperation forms an important pillar of the growing India-Philippines strategic partnership, contributing to peace, stability and responsible maritime governance in the Indo-Pacific region.
