The Foreign and Defense departments of the Philippines and United States on Tuesday said that each nation’s Coast Guards are essential in maintaining stability and supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“The Secretaries agreed that cooperation and interoperability, including with both countries’ respective Coast Guards, are essential tenets in maintaining stability and supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the joint statement reads.
US State Secretary Anthony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin together with Philippine Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo also welcomed the seal of Reciprocal Access Agreement with Tokyo and Manila and looked forward to greater trilateral and multilateral cooperation.
They also commended the conduct of the April 2024 Philippines-United States-Japan-Australia maritime cooperative activity in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone to strengthen interoperability and uphold international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The officials also said that they will convene for the Philippines-United States 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on an annual basis, with the fifth meeting to be hosted by the United States in 2025.
