30 October 2013 – A delegation of senior armed forces officers from India met with officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) today for a briefing on Philippine foreign policy and Philippines - India bilateral relations.

The delegation, headed by Air Vice Marshall Rajeet Sachdeva, is in the Philippines for a study tour as part of the Higher Defense Management (HDM) course at the College of Defense Management of India.  They were briefed by DFA Assistant Secretary for Asian and Pacific Affairs Maria Theresa P. Lazaro and Assistant Secretary for Strategic Planning and Policy Coordination Joselito Jimeno.  Their study tour also includes briefings with the Department of National Defense, National Economic Development  Authority and National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council.

The delegation’s visit comes after the visit of India’s Minister of External Affairs, Salman Khurshid last week for the 2nd Meeting of the Philippines-India Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation. 

Defense exchanges between the Philippines and India have been more frequent over the past years.  From 1998 to 2008, a total of 25 officers  of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) availed of training opportunities in India in such fields as higher defense orientation, peacekeeping operations and anti-submarine warfare.  For 2012, 18 AFP officers completed their course work in Indian military training institutions.  Five Indian naval ships also visited the Philippines for port calls from 2012 to 2013.

A similar visit to Manila was undertaken by the National Defense College of India last September 2012. In turn, the Master in National Security Administration (MNSA) class of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) chose India for their study tour last April 2013. END