EAM Jaishankar Meets Philippines' Counterpart

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar met Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines Teodoro L Locsin on his first visit to the key Southeast Asian country.

Jaishankar is on a three-day visit to the Philippines from February 13 to 15. Jaishankar was welcomed by Locsin upon his arrival at the Foreign Ministry for talks.

"Secretary @teddyboylocsin welcomes Indian External Minister Subrahmanyan Jaishankar upon his arrival at the DFA as part of his working visit to the Philippines. This is Minister @DrSJaishankar's first visit to Manila," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of the Philippines tweeted.

"Secretary @teddyboylocsin and Minister @DrSJaishankar are expected to discuss the current robust ties between Philippines and India as well as future directions of bilateral relations," DFA Philippines wrote in a subsequent tweet.

DFA Philippines's tweet further said that the two officials will discuss health and security, as well as other regional and global matters of mutual interest, especially as countries continue to engage post-COVID.

Ahead of the visit, the Ministry of External Affairs in a release said that the two ministers will review developments in bilateral relations since the meeting of the joint commission on bilateral cooperation that they co-chaired in virtual format in November 2020.

Regional and international issues of mutual interest would also be discussed, MEA said.

Jaishankar arrived here from Australia where he attended the fourth Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting in Melbourne.