India’s Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Narendra Modi (C) with chief minister of Maharashtra state Eknath Shinde (L) and their deputy chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (R) waves to the crowd during his roadshow in Mumbai on May 15, 2024, ahead of the fifth phase of voting of India’s general election. Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday congratulated Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for securing another term after his political alliance won their country’s general elections.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party won the parliamentary majority last Tuesday.
“My warmest congratulations to Prime Minister @narendramodi for securing a fresh mandate from the Indian electorate,” Marcos wrote in an X post.
READ: Modi celebrates victory in India vote, but falls short of landslide
“The last decade has shown India as a sincere friend to the Philippines & I look forward to the further strengthening of our bilateral and regional partnership in the years ahead,” Marcos said.
Modi is the 14th prime minister of India, serving as the nation’s head of state since 2014.
READ: India minister to Marcos: ‘We can be on your ship’
India has committed its friendship with the Philippines by throwing its support behind the latter regarding the West Philippine Sea.
In March, Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told Marcos that India will support Manila’s territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea.
Despite the 2016 arbitral ruling declaring the waterways as belonging to the Philippines, the country has had to repeatedly assert its claim over the West Philippine Sea due to China’s aggressive maritime expansion in the area.
“If you want a country which actually says will accept the judgment even if it goes against us, we are actually a natural candidate. So we can be on your ship,” Jaishankar told Marcos in a March meeting in Malacañan Palace.