The Philippines and France are exploring an upgrade of bilateral defense relations while considering a visiting forces agreement to enhance defense and military activities, and boost capability development and joint defense cooperation.

This after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu met on Saturday to discuss current regional security issues in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East/Southwest Asia and Europe.

During their meeting, the two officials underscored the rules-based international order and called for the peaceful resolution of disputes — consistent with the security and defense interests of the Philippines and the French Indo-Pacific Strategy.

DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said Teodoro and Lecornu highlighted their shared position supporting a free, open, inclusive, and stable Indo-Pacific.

Spirit of UNCLOS

"Concerning the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea, both sides expressed adherence to the spirit and provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the primacy thereof, and recalled the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea," Andolong said.

Teodoro and Lecornu reaffirmed their determination to work for a stronger long-term partnership in the maritime, land, aerial and information domains.

In a press conference, Teodoro said he signed a letter of intent with Lecornu, marking a concrete step to level up past defense agreements between the Philippines and France to a more comprehensive cooperation.

The letter of intent will raise the level of interaction and consolidate their exchanges through practical cooperation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the French Armed Forces.

"We intend to take concrete steps to level up and make more comprehensive our defense cooperation principally by working to get authorization from our respective heads of state and relevant agencies to begin negotiations for a status of visiting forces agreement," Teodoro said.

Teodoro said they agreed to push more robust and concrete defense cooperation, defense technology, industries, disaster risk reduction and resilience, intelligence exchange, and information, assistance in nontraditional threats, cyber exchanges and enhancing defense and military cooperation, and exchanges of people, training and exercises.

"Without need of any agreement, we have also agreed to sustain, if not further, the visits and cooperation between the French Navy and the Philippine Navy," he added.