The Official Website of the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi, India

FULL AGENDA OF PHILIPPINES-INDIA TIES ASSURED OF PROGRESS AT AMBASSADOR’S CALL ON NEW JOINT SECRETARY

NEW DELHI — The extensive and busy agenda of Philippine-India bilateral ties secured continuity and forward movement as the Embassy touched base with the new overseer of the relationship at the Ministry of External Affairs.

Philippine Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio formally called on newly appointed Joint Secretary (JS) Shri Ashis Kumar Sinha of the Ministry’s South Division on 30 September.

JS Sinha assumed the post in August. Although the Ambassador and JS Sinha have had prior interactions since then, the call was their first formal sit-down.

Joining Ambassador Ignacio was Political Officer and Third Secretary Mark Anthony P. Dizon and Attaché Rogelio B. Silva, Jr. Backstopping JS Sinha were Director Sudhi Choudhary and Under Secretary Juhi Jalota.

The two sides discussed priority items such as the imminent commemoration of the 75^th anniversary of Philippines-India diplomatic relations, exchanges of high-level visits, the convening of the two countries’ established consultation mechanisms, pending bilateral agreements, and the promotion of people-to-people ties.

Ambassador Ignacio took the occasion to spotlight the Embassy in New Delhi’s full implementation of the e-Visa system for Indian nationals, and its imminent expansion across India through the Philippines’ Honorary Missions in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai.

The two sides agreed to build on consensus reached during key meetings held this past month. In New Delhi, both governments convened the 14^th Policy Consultations and 5^th Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi on 09 September, and the inaugural meeting of the Joint Working Group on Financial Technology on 13 September.

In Manila, meanwhile, defense and military officials of the two countries gathered for the 5^thMeeting of the Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (JDCC) in Manila on 10-12 September.

Ambassador Ignacio and JS Sinha expressed satisfaction over the significant strides and positive trajectory of ties, heading into its 75^th year. They agreed to parlay these developments into further gains for the rapidly intensifying bilateral relationship across the political, economic, cultural, people-to-people and functional spheres. END

“Greatness of Spirit” Event in New Delhi Pays Tribute to Indian Laureates of Prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards

ramon magsaysay

NEW DELHI – A poignant and meaningful celebration of “greatness of spirit” as expressed through leadership and selfless service to the people took place in the Indian capital, as the Philippine Embassy and the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF) paid tribute to the legacy of India’s Magsaysay Award laureates.

Dubbed “Celebrating Greatness of Spirit in Delhi”, the special program took place at the India Habitat Centre on 02 September, and was attended by several Indian awardees and descendants of those who have since passed on.

In attendance were Ambassadors and other diplomats, key players in India’s development sector, New Delhi-based Filipinos, and representatives of media and civil society organizations.

Flying in for the occasion was a huge delegation of RMAF Trustees and officials, led by RMAF President Susan B. Afan and RMAF Chair Cecilia (Che-Che) Lazaro.

The program was preceded by the inauguration of the eponymous photo exhibit on the values espoused by the Ramon Magsaysay Award and the work of India’s total 58 laureates. Doing the ribbon-cutting honors were Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio, RMAF Chair Lazaro and RMAF President Afan.

The program proper followed, with keynote remarks from the same three officials. The highlight was an illuminating “fireside chat” discussion with four Indian laureates moderated by RMAF Trustee Mr. Ramon R. del Rosario, Jr. His exchanges with child rights activist Shantha Sinha, surgical oncologist Ravi Kannan R., social worker Neelima Mishra, and Goonj founder Anshu Gupta threw light on the kind of ideas and transformative work pursued by India’s laureates, and how winning the Magsaysay Award opened further doors for their respective advocacies.

The four laureates and a few others, being the most recent additions to the Magsaysay pantheon, were presented their commissioned official portraits by the Foundation.

The event also served as the platform for the launch in India of the RMAF’s seven-volume book series “Greatness of Spirit: Stories of Love, Courage, and Service”. The book features the stories of 300-plus Ramon Magsaysay Awardees since 1958.

A reception concluded the evening’s proceedings.

The India-leg of the Greatness of Spirit Tour was undertaken by the RMAF in conjunction with the 66^th anniversary of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, as well as the 75^th year of Philippines-India Diplomatic Relations this year.

Also extending valuable support for the event were the Philippine Consulates General in Chennai and Kolkata, represented at the event by Honorary Consul Bhimsingh Narendran and Honorary Consul General Deepak Khemka, respectively.

ramon magsaysay3

The Greatness of Spirit photo exhibit has since been moved to the Philippine Embassy premises, where it shall be accessible to the public throughout September. On the heels of the 02 September program, the Embassy and the Foundation also held a Youth Dialogue on 05 September, in partnership with the Ram Lal Anand College of Delhi University. Indian laureates Ms. Mileema Mishra and Harish Hande engaged students in illuminating, interactive exchanges of views on youth empowerment, academic excellence and leveraging new technologies to promote social inclusion, interconnectedness, understanding, and pluralism. “Celebrating the legacy of President Ramon Magsaysay in Delhi and the work of Magsaysay laureates in India drives home the universality of the values of integrity and selfless service”, said Ambassador Ignacio. “It gratifies us that these shared values have committed champions in both our countries, a testament to the strong common fabric on which we build larger Philippine-India relations”. END

ramon magsaysay5

Indian Companies Mean Business in the Philippines

CHENNAI — Indian companies are committed to grow their Philippine operations. Such was the pledge of executives of a number of enterprises who called on Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio during the latter’s visit to the bustling economic center of Chennai in Tamil Nadu province.

Joining the Ambassador in receiving the executives were Embassy Economic Officer and Vice Consul Melissa Anne M. Telan, Philippine Commercial Counsellor Eugenio D. Elevado, Jr., and Philippine honorary Consul in Chennai Bimsingh Narendran.

Calling on the Ambassador were executives of Madras Security Printers Pvt. Ltd., Arudra Engineers Pvt. Ltd., Tech Mahindra Limited., Infosys Ltd., ZOHO Corporation Pvt Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services, Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre, and Linda Education Consultancy.

The aforementioned companies have investments, operations or clients in the Philippines. They came from disparate sectors, mirroring thriving industrial profile that includes motor vehicles, IT/BPM and software, medical tourism, manufacturing and financial services sectors.

The executives briefed the Philippine officials on their plans to enhance their Philippine operations. The Ambassador and his team, for their part, freely engaged the companies in a no-holds-barred discussion on proposals seen to help further drive Indian investments into the country.

The Ambassador and team visited Chennai to drum up trade and investment interest in the Philippines. Southern India is a dynamic region that drives the country’s overall growth, and has been instrumental to India’s ascent to become the world’s fifth largest economy.

Within the region, Chennai and its home state of Tamil Nadu are themselves powerhouses. Tamil Nadu boasts India’s second largest state economy and is seen to become a USD 1-trillion economy by 2030. END

AI-Aligned Growth of Philippine IT-BPM Industry Tackled at Ambassador’s Visit to Cognizant Innovation Center

CHENNAI — The Philippines’ thriving IT-Business Process Management (IT-BPM) Sector is gearing up for a big artificial intelligence (AI) leap, in a shift also supported and propelled by Indian industry players.

The upskilling of the Philippines’ huge IT talent pool is well on its way, reported executives of Cognizant Technology Solutions to Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio and Embassy Commercial Counsellor Eugenio D. Elevado, Jr. The Philippine officials were visiting TCS’ sprawling complex on the final day of their mission to India’s economic powerhouse city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu State.

For 30 years now, Cognizant has been one of the world’s leading providers of IT, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It has 336,300 employees in operations worldwide that generate revenue of USD 19.5 billion.

It provides the world’s largest and trusted companies a wide host of services, including automation, software, BPM, Cloud, Consulting, AI, Internet of Things (IoT), quality assurance and others. Its industry presence spans a broad field that covers healthcare, manufacturing, banking, logistics, telecom, insurance, education, and retail.

Present since 2009 in the Philippines, Cognizant operates from multiple locations including Manila and Cebu, and employs over 6,000. It services global industries like communications, insurance, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, and financial services.

Amb. Ignacio and Counsellor Elevado were received and given a briefing by Cognizant representatives: Ms. Poornima Sathy, Vice President and Global Solutioning Head – Core Technologies and Insights; Mr. Alankar Srivastava, Senior Director and Strategy & Innovation Lead – Global Growth Markets; Ms. Nirmala Jane, Engineering Director – AI & Analytics; and Mr. Antony Pradeep, Cognizant Innovation Studio Lead. Joining the meeting remotely from New Delhi, Mr. Gaurav Hazra, Vice President & Head, Government Affairs.

Cognizant is now heavily cross-training its Filipino staff as it seeks to bring its Philippine operations and services onto a higher service and value-added track, including AI-oriented services, anticipating a world of pervasive AI driven by the generative AI (GenAI) revolution.

The Philippine IT-BPM sector is seen to position itself to retain its dominance with India amidst the evolving landscape, able to deftly balance in providing cutting edge, innovative services, while also servicing those grounded on legacy systems.

The visit concluded with a tour of the site’s “Innovation Studio”. Also dubbed an “experience center”, the Cognizant Team demonstrated the company’s development of real-world operations of AI and cutting-edge technologies in areas such as public works planning and management; retail store inventory management; telemedicine (“virtual doctor”); augmented reality- and virtual reality training, and others.

The Embassy Team and Cognizant are optimistic about the Philippine IT-BPM’s sector’s prospects and competitiveness, factoring in the industry’s resolute efforts to ramp up upskilling and workforce development, paired with Filipinos’ natural creativity and strong intelligence and emotional quotients. END