Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is on a five-day state visit to India to bolster strategic ties and mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. During the ceremonial welcome for Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr, at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, he discussed the increasing strategic significance of the Indo-Pacific region versus more antiquated use of Asia-Pacific. Marcos stated, “The term Indo-Pacific is, in my view, more representative and appropriate of our current world political and economic situation,” while at the ceremony in front of Indian dignitaries like President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Marcos presented the shift in the nomenclature as an example of evolving and deepening regional connections, especially between the Philippines and India, considering new geopolitical realities and rapidly emerging technologies.
This is Marcos’s first visit to India since assuming the office in 2022 and located on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries, a significant milestone in the bilateral relationship. Accompanied by First Lady Louise Araneta Marcos and high-level delegation, he is expected to have strategic talks with Indian leaders, including Prime Minister Modi and Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar. The trip signals Manila’s desire to deepen its defence, trade, and technology cooperation with India, especially with tensions in the South China Sea and an increasingly multipolar Indo-Pacific region.
