THE Philippines has a huge role to play in this year’s maritime exercises organized by the Australian Defense Force, Australian Ambassador HK Yu said yesterday.
The maritime exercises, dubbed Indo-Pacific Endeavor, are set to take place in August this year. The drill is meant to show Canberra’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region amid concerns over aggressive Chinese activities in the South China Sea, Yu said.
The exercises began in 2017 and meant to strengthen Australia’s engagement and partnerships with regional security forces.
“This year’s Indo-Pacific Endeavor is going to be, probably one of the biggest we’ve ever done, with the Philippines right at the center of it. As part of that, we are actually running an exercise called Alon that is going to be an amphibious exercise including the Philippines, and most likely the US as well and Australia,” Yu told ABS-CBN News Channel.
Earlier, Yu said Australia is aiming to become a better defense partner to the Philippines through a nuclear-powered submarine program under the AUKUS trilateral security pact.
The pact among Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, forged in 2021, is aimed at strengthening each country’s ability to support security and defense interests, among others.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, earlier this month, pledged assistance to the Philippine Coast Guard, including drones and training, when she visited Manila.
Yu said it is in Canberra’s interest to ensure a stable and peaceful Indo-Pacific region and one way of achieving that is working with regional partners like the Philippines.
“We want to be a strong partner to the Philippines in creating the region we both want to live in, where sovereignty is respected, and international law guides what happens in the region.”
Australia is one of the Philippines’ vocal supporters in the maritime territorial dispute with China and in pressing the latter to adhere to the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidating Beijing’s massive claim in the South China Sea. It also has a Visiting Forces Agreement with Manila, the second country to have such an agreement after the United States.
