Introduction
The Centre for Land Warfare Studies hosted a delegation from the Philippine Army at Chanakya Hall on 1 October 2026. The delegation was led by Colonel Ryan N. Severo, Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Philippine Army, and included the chiefs of the Army’s counter-intelligence, plans and research, and foreign liaison branches. Lieutenant General Dushyant Singh, PVSM, AVSM (Retd), Director General, CLAWS, delivered the welcome remarks. Dr. Arushi Anthal, Associate Fellow, CLAWS, presented an overview of the Centre. Ambassador Yogendra Kumar, former Ambassador of India to the Philippines, spoke on India-Philippines defence cooperation.
Discussion
Lt Gen Dushyant Singh traced India’s long-standing civilisational links with Southeast Asia, described the 2025 strategic partnership as the current flag-bearer of India-Philippines ties, and highlighted the relevance of the land, air and maritime variants of BrahMos to the Philippines’ geography. Col Severo described the first India-Philippines Army Staff Talks, held on 26–27 March 2026, as formalising direct army-to-army engagement. Calling this the delegation’s inaugural visit, he said the Philippine Army is developing a three-year foreign engagement plan with the Indian Army, with emphasis on capacity building and intelligence cooperation. Ambassador Kumar noted that India is among the few countries with which the Philippines holds a strategic partnership, and recalled shared cultural roots such as the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. He outlined existing mechanisms, including the Joint Defence Cooperation Committee, the maritime dialogue and the joint working group on counter-terrorism, alongside cooperation in maritime domain awareness, hydrography, search and rescue, and regular ship visits. He stressed adherence to international law and UNCLOS, and proposed joint studies between defence organisations and think tanks to share doctrinal experience. In the interactive session, the delegates discussed defence self-reliance, comparing India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative with the Philippines’ ongoing modernisation efforts, and expressed particular interest in AI, autonomous and unmanned systems. Both sides agreed on the value of sustained research collaboration and regular exchanges.
Key Takeaways
- Institutionalising army-to-army engagement. The 2026 Army Staff Talks and the proposed three-year engagement plan give the relationship a structured framework for regular exchanges.
- Shared maritime outlook. Both sides underlined a common commitment to international law, freedom of navigation and maritime domain awareness as the basis for cooperation.
- Defence-industrial and technology cooperation. BrahMos, India’s growing defence start-up ecosystem and Philippine interest in unmanned and autonomous systems point to scope for collaboration under both countries’ self-reliance agendas.
