The Philippines and Vietnam will sign a defense cooperation agreement, as both nations are looking to advance their military ties amid China’s increasing hostility in the South China Sea.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. said Vietnamese Defense Minister General Phan Văn Giang is in the country on Friday to sign agreements that can help in building the momentum for cooperation between the two countries’ defense and military sectors.
“On the state level side, Vietnam was one of the countries our President visited in order to forge greater ties and relationships, intra-ASEAN and I believe that a South China Sea way forward was part of the conversation between our President and the Vietnamese President at that time,” Teodoro said.
“We can hope to get some agreements signed once clearances are made. And on that basis, we can have a new momentum and impetus for working together on the defense side and on the military side,” he added.
In January, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. visited Vietnam, where the two countries agreed to boost cooperation in the South China Sea and “peacefully solve incidents at sea.”
Teodoro noted he also just signed a defense cooperation agreement with Singapore in July, and sees more cooperation with other Southeast Asian nations.
“The intra ASEAN efforts are gaining momentum and I believe, starting this year, there will be a better chance of forging ASEAN way forward in so far as general principles are concerned in the South China Sea,” he said.
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