India and the Philippines have conducted their first-ever joint naval drills in the contested South China Sea, marking a significant show of defence cooperation that will likely antagonise China.
The drills came as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos began a five-day state visit to New Delhi on Monday, where he will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior officials with an eye on boosting defence and trade ties.
In response, China—locked in separate territorial disputes with both nations—launched military patrols in the South China Sea and accused the India-Philippines joint manoeuvres of undermining regional stability.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff General Romeo Brawner said on Monday that the two-day joint naval sail and exercises, which began on Sunday, have been successful so far and expressed hopes that Filipino forces could engage India’s military in more joint manoeuvres in the future.
Asked about the Chinese patrols in the vicinity, Brawner said without elaborating that “we did not experience any untoward incident, but we were still shadowed. We expected that already.”
In past joint patrols with other foreign navies, Chinese navy and coast guard ships have kept watch from a distance, according to the Philippine military.
The Philippines has staged naval patrols in the disputed waters with its treaty ally, the United States, and other strategic partners, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and France, provoking angry Chinese reactions.
China's military conducted patrols in the South China Sea from August 3 to 4, a spokesperson for the Southern Theatre Command confirmed on Monday. The spokesperson described the Chinese patrol as "routine" but said the Philippines’ "so-called 'joint patrol' disrupted regional peace and stability".
In response to a question last week about Manila's plans to build up military cooperation, China’s Ministry of National Defence called the Philippines a “troublemaker” that has aligned itself with foreign forces to stir up trouble in what China deems its own territorial waters.
“China never wavers in its resolve and will to safeguard national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests and will take resolute countermeasures against any provocations by the Philippine side,” Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said at a news conference.
Brawner said the Philippines has to boost deterrence to prevent war. “The way to do that is number one, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has to be strengthened through modernisation and secondly, we need to partner with like-minded nations and that’s what we’re doing with India,” he said last week.
During a reception on board an Indian navy tanker, the INS Shakti, on Thursday, Brawner said the vessel's port call in Manila was more than ceremonial. It “sends a powerful signal of solidarity, strength in partnership and the energy of cooperation between two vibrant democracies in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Brawner welcomed the deepening of relations between the two Asian countries and “reaffirmed the shared commitment to maritime security, regional stability and a rules-based international order in one of the world’s most geopolitically sensitive regions.”
