India supports Philippines in upholding its sovereignty: Jaishankar in Manila

Any third party is not in a position to interfere in maritime disputes, says Beijing

AMID MANILA’S dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Tuesday that India firmly supports the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and wants to explore new areas of cooperation, including in defence and security.

At a joint press conference in Manila after bilateral talks with Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, Jaishankar said: “I take this opportunity to firmly reiterate India's support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty.” As the world changes, it is essential that countries like India and the

Philippines cooperate more closely to shape the emerging order, he said. Every country has the right to uphold and enforce its national sovereignty, he said in response to a question. “That is something that we have also discussed,” he said.

On India’s plans to expand the defence cooperation with the Philippines, Jaishankar said: “You need to look at that cooperation on its own merits. It is not necessarily linked to a particular situation. But it’s natural today that two countries whose trust and comfort is growing so rapidly that we will look at various new areas of cooperation. And certainly defence and security is one of them.”

In Beijing, responding to a question referring to Jaishankar’s comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, “Maritime disputes are issues between countries concerned and any third party is not in a position to interfere.”

“We urge the relevant side to face facts of the issues of the South China Sea, respect the sovereignty and maritime interests of China and the efforts made by the regional countries in upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Lin said.

This face-off over South China Sea comes days after verbal exchange of words between India and China over Arunachal Pradesh. Over the past few weeks, India and China have sparred over Beijing’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh being part of its territory. Delhi has rejected Beijing's claim as “absurd” and “ludicrous”. There have been such verbal encounters four times in the past month.manalo said the Philippines consistently reaffirmed the need to abide by international law and also for international rules and regulations when it comes to the maritime area. Speaking about Beijing's recent activities in the South China Sea, he accused China of trying to prevent Philipino ships from supplying its troops.