Deeper India-Philippines Ties Boost US Aims In South China Sea
With so much media focus in recent months on the war in Iran, it's no surprise that Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby's speech in Manila received so little coverage. That means very few know what the US and its allies are doing to deter China from launching any hostilities of its own.
In April, Filipino marines undertook one of the most expansive iterations of Balikatan, the annual bilateral US-Philippines military exercise. They took part in simulated firing of the BrahMos anti-ship missile during the joint maritime strike phase of the exercise.
The BrahMos is an Indian missile, and while India was not a participant in Balikatan, it joined as an observer. The image of a US-Philippine drill with an Indian weapons platform aptly captures India's role in the South China Sea.
India is not explicitly present and may never put boots on the ground, and yet its presence is felt in how it strengthens the deterrence of Southeast Asian partners through hardware, intel sharing, and strategic diversification.
This is not necessarily a case of policy alignment but of strategic convergence: India's pursuit of its own interests produces outcomes that complement Washington's regional objectives.
Washington's strategy in the first island chain rests on a strategy of denial by making it too costly for China to strike against a partner nation. The Trump administration has emphasized burden-sharing, pushing allies and partners do their part in ensuring that they can defend themselves.
This was captured best and most recently by Colby's speech. He not only spoke about the importance of maintaining a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, but also how partners are expected to do their part.
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