Philippines President on first India visit, to hold talks with PM Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Philippines President`s ceremonial welcome by PM Narendra Mosi and President, Droupadi Murmu

Philippines President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. received a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday, reported ANI.

Upon his arrival at the Rashtrapati Bhavan complex, President Marcos was welcomed by President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

President Marcos, accompanied by First Lady Madame Louise Araneta Marcos and a high-level official delegation, landed in New Delhi on Monday for a five-day official visit, reported ANI.

During his stay in India, the Philippines President is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi and participate in various engagements aimed at strengthening ties between the two nations. This marks President Marcos's first visit to India since assuming office as the President of the Republic of the Philippines, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), reported ANI.

As part of the ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Marcos was also presented with a Guard of Honour.

Moreover, Philippines President Ferdinand Romualdez on Tuesday noted that the Indo-Pacific is the correct evolution of Asia Pacific, which used to be referred to as the Asia Pacific Region, but the world now refers to it as the Indo-Pacific Region, reported PTI.

"Indo Pacific is the correct evolution of Asia Pacific," the visiting Philippines President said while addressing reporters at the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Marcos said that this is a reaffirmation of the alliance between India and the Philippines.

"I think it is a reaffirmation of the alliance and the partnership that we are strengthening. What used to be where we used to refer to the Asia Pacific region we now refer to as the Indo Pacific region, which is I think a correct evolution of that understanding because of the global nature of all of politics and of all of trade and all of the economy. And to build upon what we already have had but to certainly to explore the many opportunities that have arisen in the past few years because of the new technologies and the changing state of the global economy and the geopolitical geopolitics around us now," he said, reported PTI.

Several dignitaries, including External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, were present at the ceremonial event.

As reported by PTI, on the first day of his visit, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called on President Marcos on Monday evening.

(Inputs from ANI and PTI)