India has a long and distinguished maritime tradition whose civilisational imprint is still visible in this region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday as he hailed the docking of an Indian Coast Guard ship here signified the deepening of bilateral ties with Manila.
Mr Jaishankar, who is in the Philippines on the second leg of his three-nation tour, made the remarks during his visit to the Indian Coast Guard Ship 'Samudra Paheredar' during the vessel's port call to Manila.
"My visit and the ship's presence signifies the deepening India-Philippines relations," he said.
"India has a long and distinguished maritime tradition, whose civilisational imprint is still visible in this region. Today, our Act East policy and the Indo-Pacific Vision have given it a more contemporary form," the minister said.
He said that another noteworthy development is the Indo-Pacific maritime domain awareness initiative of which both countries are members that is aimed at fostering cooperation on a wide range of maritime activities and issues.
"Our collaboration with the ASEAN is a vital aspect of those endeavours... We have also seen the commencement of ASEAN-India maritime exercises. As seafaring nations, this is a strong bilateral bond between us," he said.
He said that the ship's presence in Manila happens to coincide with his own bilateral visit. And each, in their own way, signifies a deepening partnership, he added.
"The cooperation between the Coast Guards of our two nations was facilitated by an understanding of enhanced maritime cooperation that was reached last year," he said, adding that he was glad to note that specialised training courses in India have commenced.
"We value the presence of the Philippines in the search and rescue and pollution response exercises which have been conducted by the Indian Coast Guard. The visit of this pollution control vessel to the Philippines is significant because it highlights the shared challenges that we face in that domain," he said.
"Like-minded countries of the Indo-Pacific should be doing more with each other," he said.
"May it promote greater cooperation between our countries and may promote greater cooperation within the region and may it instill a greater sense of maritime interest and responsibility, particularly in the younger generations," he added.
He said he was glad to see that the ship carries the cadets of the National Cadet Corps, recalling that he was part of the NCC during his college days.
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