Amid China’s continued aggressive posturing on maritime issues, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday asserted that all countries must adhere to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) both in letter and spirit.

”As a nation deeply invested in this region because of its Act East policy and Indo-Pacific vision, India follows all developments with great interest. We are strongly supportive of ASEAN’s centrality, cohesion and unity. We are also convinced that the progress and prosperity of this region is best served by staunch adherence to a rules-based order. UNCLOS 1982 is particularly important in that regard as the constitution of the seas,” he said at a joint press conference with the Philippines foreign minister in Manila.

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Jaishankar also firmly reiterated India’s support to the Philippines for upholding its national sovereignty in the backdrop of Manila’s running feud with China over the South China Sea.

The Indian minister said that as two seafaring nations of the Indo-Pacific, the maritime cooperation between India and the Philippines holds great potential. He said he has discussed with his counterpart the shared interests of the two countries in ensuring maritime safety, given that the two nations contribute so much to the global shipping industry.

”I also briefed him about the Indian Navy’s deployments in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to counter ongoing threats. And he himself has spoken about the rescue of MV True Confidence by one of our ships, INS Kolkata. And there have been some other instances, I think since then, MV, Lila Norfolk, as well which involved some crew from the Philippines,” he added.

Mr Jaishankar noted that the two countries are cooperating in a range of domains starting from trade and investment and extending to health and food security, to education and science and technology, defence and maritime cooperation. The bilateral trade has crossed the USD 3 billion level last year and continues to grow.

He said India’s partnership with the Philippines also has a larger context in terms of the engagement with ASEAN. The Philippines will take over as India’s country coordinator later this year.

”We look forward to its steering India-ASEAN cooperation, especially with regard to reviewing the trade agreement, to building connectivity and to deepening people-to-people contacts,” he added.

As the world changes, it is essential that countries like India and the Philippines cooperate more closely to shape the emerging order, the minister said. He said India and the Philippines could contribute significantly to the global workplace. ”We would like to see more resilient supply chains and trusted digital partnerships. Our activities serve to strengthen the cause of the Global South in different domains. Our commitment to democratic values is deep and abiding. We are both nations who value the autonomy of decision-making and favour a multi-polar world, with a multi-polar Asia at its core,” he added.