A calculated strategic shift
For decades, India’s engagement in East and Southeast Asia was shaped by its Look East and later Act East policies, the frameworks that emphasised economic engagement and people-to-people ties. However, recent geopolitical flux in the Indo-Pacific, especially with China’s increasingly assertive maritime posture, has forced India to recalibrate. By signing a strategic partnership with Manila — one of the principal claimants opposing China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea — India is sending a calculated message. It no longer views regional maritime issues as the concern of East Asian states alone but as integral to its own national security and regional order objectives.
The symbolism of India conducting its first-ever joint patrol with the Philippines in the South China Sea, timed with Marcos Jr.’s India visit, could not be more pointed. It reflects a conscious Indian attempt to move beyond rhetoric to operational presence. This patrol is not just a show of solidarity. It’s a demonstration of India’s willingness to share maritime burdens and contribute to a rules-based order, despite China’s objections.
The presence of three Indian warships in the Philippines underscores India’s growing naval outreach in Southeast Asia. It is also a reflection of India’s larger Indo-Pacific vision that seeks to counterbalance China’s coercive maneuvers in the region.
Perhaps equally significantly, both India and the Philippines jointly underscored the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling under UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), which invalidated China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claim. While India has traditionally been cautious in taking sides on territorial disputes, its explicit call, first in 2023 and reiterated in this joint statement, for China to respect the ruling marks a major diplomatic evolution. It is a signal of India’s growing comfort in aligning more closely with countries that challenge China’s maritime narrative, and of India’s willingness to use international law as a tool of strategic leverage.
India’s defence outreach is not just symbolic or operational. It’s becoming increasingly transactional and industrial. The sale of the BrahMos cruise missile system to the Philippines, India’s first major defence export of such a strategic platform, was a breakthrough. Now, with Manila expressing interest in more Indian weapons, India’s defence diplomacy is evolving into a potent foreign policy tool. This growing interoperability between the two militaries, backed by defence exports and training programs, enhances India’s profile as not just a balancing power but a capable security partner in the Indo-Pacific.
The China angle
Predictably, China has reacted sharply. It accused the Philippines of “rallying an external country” (a clear, though unnamed, reference to India) to interfere in the South China Sea. China’s displeasure reflects the strategic discomfort with India stepping into its backyard, especially at a time when China is also engaged in border tensions with India for several years. India’s engagement with the Quad, its naval deployments in the Indo-Pacific, and new bilateral strategic alignment with Philippines, all point toward a more muscular and proactive Indian posture.India’s manoeuvre here is delicate. On one hand, it seeks to assert itself in the region; on the other, it must manage its own complex relationship with China, especially ahead of PM Modi’s visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit later this month, when India-US relations have also turned tense. That India has not backed down from joint patrols or public posturing, despite this upcoming visit, indicates that it is increasingly willing to separate tactical engagement from strategic competition.
India’s evolving ties with the Philippines and its assertive steps in the South China Sea represent a major inflection point in its foreign policy. The partnership with the Philippines is a crucial test case. If India can deepen this relationship through sustained engagement — maritime, defence, economic, and diplomatic — it will not only contribute to regional stability but also redefine India’s role as a key player in shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific order.
In China’s strategic backyard, India is no longer a distant observer. It is now becoming an active, assertive presence.
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- Source of information and images “economictimes.indiatimes”“
