Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, 5th August. President of Philippines is on the five-day state visit to India. The visit, which aligns with the 75th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries, is being viewed as a step in strengthening their strategic and economic cooperation.
In his address to the media following the welcome ceremony, President Marcos initially discussed the changing character of the Indo-Pacific region. He said, This is a reaffirmation of the alliance and the partnership that we are strengthening. What used to be referred to as the Asia Pacific Region, we now refer to it as the Indo-Pacific Region, which is, I think, the correct evolution of that understanding because of the global nature of all of politics, all of trade and all of economy. To build upon what we already have and to certainly explore the many opportunities that have arisen in the past few years because of the new technologies and the changing state of the global economy and the geopolitics around us now.
#WATCH | Delhi: Philippines' President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos says, "I think it is a reaffirmation of the alliance and the partnership that we are strengthening. What used to be referred to as the Asia Pacific Region, we now refer to it as the Indo-Pacific Region, which is, I… pic.twitter.com/onQFGbFbLu
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2025
He added that there are numerous new things for both nations to discover, particularly with the emergence of new technologies and the changing state of global economy and geopolitics. “This visit is about consolidating what we already have,” Marcos emphasized.
Marcos highlights India’s growth and his family connection
While talking about about India, Marcos expressed his delight to be in India and he also praised India’s development in recent years. He remembered his father, and said late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr, was the first Philippine President to travel to India in 1976.
It is a big honor to be in India as I am following the footsteps of four of my predecessors. “I extend my compliments on India’s remarkable achievements under your guiding hand. Landing in Delhi, the evidence of rapid transformation and the energy of the world’s fourth-largest economy are readily palpable”, he said.
President Marcos also expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the hospitality and support, such as the recent granting of the Philippines’ exemption from India’s export ban on non-basmati rice. “Cooperation between us has greatly expanded in recent years,” he averred. “I am thrilled that we are now taking this friendship to a full-fledged strategic partnership.”
Philippines is visa free country for Indians: President Marcos
President Marcos also delivered a speech on actions to enhance people-to-people relations. He introduced a visa-free entry privileges and extended the invitation for more Indian tourists to visit the Philippines.
#WATCH | Delhi: President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr of the Philippines says, "…I reiterated our introduction of a visa-free entry privileges and extended our invitation for more Indian tourists to visit the Philippines. I thank PM Modi for the introduction of a scheme to… pic.twitter.com/utOSjtGJVD
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2025
He also his gratitude to PM Modi for the introduction of a scheme to grant visa-free of charge to Philippines tourists travelling to India.
He further said, “We welcome the resumption of direct flights from October this year and renewed our commitment to sustaining and expanding such direct air connectivity”.
Defence and maritime cooperation in focus
A major aspect of the two leaders’ conversation was defence and sea cooperation. President Marcos thanked the Prime Minister for cooperation in the area of defence industry, the export of defence platforms to India, including the BrahMos. He also called for greater cooperation in the area of the defence industry.
As part of our broader defence cooperation, we were talking about capacity building, joint exercises, joint cooperative maritime activities, exchange of training programs between our officials and all standard elements that we talk about when it comes to defence cooperation.
We talk about more opportunities for India to export our defence platforms. I think we have indeed exported a number of defence hardware platforms to many, many countries.
The Philippines certainly showed interest in working with us to explore opportunities for more defence platforms. We’re also talking about ship visits, cooperation as part of multilateral formats.
So basically aimed at sharing best practices, enhancing maritime domain awareness on both sides, talking about enhancing interoperability, working together to enhance our disaster response readiness in the coming years and so on.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the visit of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr of the Philippines, P Kumaran, Secretary (East) says, "There was a discussion on defence cooperation. President Marcos thanked the Prime Minister for cooperation in the area of defence industry, the export of… pic.twitter.com/XAGgAi9db8
— ANI (@ANI) August 5, 2025
“We highlighted our capabilities in space and the cost-effectiveness of our space program. President Marcos said he had indeed studied how cost-effective our space program is and they wanted to try and use some of our space technology, space capabilities to effect social transformation in terms of helping predict weather events, helping with agriculture, helping with disaster relief”, he said.
India-Philippines defence relations: The BrahMos agreement
India and the Philippines have already made significant moves in the defence industry. In April 2024, India delivered the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines as part of the USD 375 million deal between the two sides signed in 2022.
The missiles were transported by the Indian Air Force on its C-17 Globemaster aircraft, which was India’s first significant defense export to the Southeast Asian nation.
