On 1 October, an Airbus A321 lifted off Indira Gandhi International Airport, nose toward Manila, pulling a clean seven-hour line over the South China Sea.

Inside: 188 passengers scattered across the classes — a mix of tourists and business travelers, perhaps also ones who just wanted to be part of a first flight no one had seen in years.

The route (AI 2362 from Delhi; AI 2361, return) won’t run daily, skipping Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Over 30 million Indians left the country last year, scattering across airports from Dubai to Toronto, a tide of outbound tourism without relent.

By 2027, the forecasts put India in the Top 5 worldwide, an export economy of tourists with wallets open and itineraries crammed.

And Manila wants in. Hard.

Since June, the Philippines has waived visas for Indian tourists willing to try its beaches and malls, a two-week pass stamped sans the hassle. New Delhi answered just last month with free e-visas for Filipinos.

Tourism officials in Manila talk about “unlocking growth,” euphemism for hotel occupancy, retail receipts, restaurants filled with diners who order chapati without flinching at the markup. 

Between Rodrigo’s final handshake and Bongbong, the two democracies managed what diplomats call “continuity with velocity” over 13 agreements.

In August, the two nations declared themselves strategic partners, a diplomatic shorthand that binds Manila and Delhi to a framework of cooperation that stretches across defense and trade and technology.

The BrahMos missile deal advanced defense, while naval officers jointly simulated sails in the West Philippine Sea. 

Business chambers, never the sexiest players in the room, confirm $446 million in contracts and then dangling almost $6 billion more.

On the table: trash plants claiming to turn Manila’s garbage into electricity. AI camps that promise to haul 26,000 Filipinos out of clerical jobs and into the algorithm mines. Renewable grids to tie together fringes that weather brownouts.

A prisoner transfer treaty sitting alongside maritime patrol accords: India searching for allies to the east, the Philippines? Searching for ballast beyond Washington and Beijing.