Enrique Manalo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines has termed the acquisition of Brahmos missile system as a major development in defence cooperation with India. Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, he said, 'export of Brahmos to the Philippines part of our policies of modernizing our defence compatibility, not aimed at particular any 3rd country. It's a major development in Philippines-India Defence cooperation" In January 2022, India and the Philippines signed a $375 million agreement for the supply of three batteries of the shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos missile system. This marked India's first export of the BrahMos missile, a supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia. Secretary Manalo emphasized on expanding maritime cooperation. India has offered facilities to the Philippines for ship repair as well. He thanked India for assistance to Philippines seafarers in the western Indian Ocean. In the broad-based interview, he also spoke on China tension, Ukraine, trade, etc.