External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid. AP/Eranga Jayawardena
MANILA, Philippines—India’s foreign minister is arriving in Manila on Monday to deliver the inaugural talk in the Rizal-Nehru Memorial Lectures at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid will speak on “The Shaping of India’s Foreign Policy,” including India’s Look East Policy and Philippine-Indian relations, the DFA said in a statement.
More than 150 guests, including officials from the Philippine government and the diplomatic corps, representatives from the academe and think tanks, business chambers, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Scholarships Alumni, university students and the media have been invited to the lecture to be held at the DFA’s Foreign Service Institute.
The Rizal-Nehru Lectures is intended to be a series of lectures in the Philippines and India and aims to promote greater understanding of each other’s foreign policies, the DFA said.
The lecture is a joint undertaking among the FSI, the DFA’s Office of Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Indian Embassy in Manila.
After the lecture, Khurshid will hand over to FSI Director Ma. Angelina Sta. Catalina a donation of 200 books from the Indian government.
Khurshid will be on his first official visit to the Philippines for the 2nd Meeting of the Philippines-India Joint Commission on Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) on Oct. 21.
He will also pay a courtesy call on President Aquino and on Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who is the chair of the Philippine delegation to the JCBC.
During the JCBC, Del Rosario and Khurshid are expected to discuss areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly in security, defense and trade.
They will also take stock of the progress of the two countries’ joint working groups on trade and investment, tourism, renewable energy, agriculture and health. They are also expected to exchange views and share experiences on international and regional issues such as maritime security cooperation.