India’s soft loan offer for Phl’s defense upgrade still ‘on the table’—envoy

India’s soft loan offer for the Philippines to fund its military modernization program remains on the table, Indian Ambassador Shambhu Kumaran said Friday.

“Our offer is very much on the table. We have announced our intent to offer a soft loan for defense procurements and this could also cover activities that would eventually extend to you know, some sort of joint industrial activity so this is very much on the table,” Kumaran said at the sidelines of an Indian Embassy-led defense industry seminar in Makati City.

India’s line of credit being offered includes providing concessional interest rates to developing countries based on the national priorities of the borrowing nations.

The Export-Import Bank of India line credit is 1.75 percent, with a 20-year tenor and five-year moratorium, and no specific amount indicated at present.

“[My] understanding is that the Philippine side is currently in the process of trying to put in place a framework in which they want to develop this entire cell line defense posture program so we'll just wait to see when it comes through from the Philippines,” he said when asked if the Philippines is considering to acquire India’s loan offer.

Kumaran emphasized the Indian government's willingness to support the implementation of the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines modernization program.

“Like India, the Philippines has to devote the bulk of its resources to development programs. So our share for national security, which is also a pressing requirement, is always constrained,” he said.

Gerry Amante, director of the Department of National Defense for Government Arsenal, said the government has been reviving the idea of tapping local military equipment manufacturers to bring back the country’s self-reliant defense posture.

Amante recalled the Philippines used to be among the most robust defense industries in the Southeast Asian region until it “lost the momentum” and started to buy military assets in bulk from other countries.

“But this time that the Defense Department is into indigenizing them we see mainly meaning portions of basic equipment and graduated scale will be manufactured locally,” he said.

“We want to involve the local industries to take part in the revitalization with Philippine defense reliance, we cannot keep on buying such equipment so slowly and surely, we will develop an industry producing our own defensive equipment,” he added.