The Philippines and France are eyeing to upgrade their existing bilateral defense relations, considering the possibility of a visiting forces agreement, enhancing defense and military activities, and boosting capability development and joint defense industry cooperation.

This came after Department of National 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 reiterated the importance of 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 Lecorno highlighted their shared positions supporting a free, open, inclusive and stable Indo-Pacific. 

"With regard to the West Philippine Sea/the 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 stronger long-term partnerships 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 leveling up the past defense agreements of the Philippines and France into a more comprehensive cooperation. 

The Letter of Intent will raise the level of interaction and consolidate exchanges through practical cooperation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the French Armed Forces. 

Also, "We intend to take concrete steps into leveling up and making 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.

"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. 

Lecornu said the first goal is to create interoperability or strategic closeness with both armed forces, to "see how both navies work together and how our air forces work together."

The Philippines has an existing VFA with the United States and Australia, respectively, while there are ongoing talks for the establishment of a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan.

The Philippines has been elevating its strategic defense and military cooperation with "like-minded" nations such as the US, Australia, and Japan amid increasing security challenges in the West Philippine Sea. 

"We agree to work on shared values, shared cooperation not only in the South China Sea but also in the greater Pacific area — where France also has a presence and which we want to further the defense cooperation and presence with the other oceanic nations," said Teodoro.