GOVPH

FILIPINA GRADUATES FROM PREMIER INDIAN MILITARY OFFICER TRAINING ACADEMY

Chennai, Tamil Nadu —  A Filipina was among the over three hundred new Army officers to graduate from India’s prestigious Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu state.

After 49 weeks of intensive course work and training, 2Lt. Kim Janzen Obdin, PA, graduated this Saturday, 07 September 2024, from the OTA’s 32^nd Short Service Commission Course (SSC) for Women.

2Lt. Obdin was one of five foreign women cadets in the 32^nd SSC, and one of a total 15 foreign cadets who graduated from various OTA courses for this most recent term.

She joined 297 Indian graduates and fellow foreign cadets at the solemn “Passing Out Ceremony” at the OTA’s Parameshwaran Drill Square.

On hand at the ceremony from New Delhi was Philippine Defense and Armed Forces Attaché Col. Rolando Gomez who, with an Indian ‘foster parent’, took part in the Pipping Ceremony and affixed the stars denoting rank, on the shoulders of 2Lt. Obdin.

Col. Gomez also presented 2Lt. Obdin a Certificate of Recognition issued by the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi, in acknowledgement of her achievement.

Established in 1962, the OTA is a premier Pre-commission Training Institution of the Indian Army. It specializes in the so-called Short Service Commission (SSC) in the Indian military system. OTA trains around 750 Army officers annually.

The new Second Lieutenant is one of four Philippine Army cadets studying in India, as the Philippines and India bolster defense and military cooperation, including in the sphere of military education and training. The two countries are marking 75 years of diplomatic relations this year. END

PHILIPPINES LAUDS INDIAN POSGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR ASEAN AGRICULTURE STUDENTS

NEW DELHI — The Philippines commended the Indian Government for setting up a post-graduate Fellowship program that will support studies in premier Indian agricultural academic institutions by students from the 10 ASEAN Member States.

The ASEAN-India Fellowship for Higher Education In Agriculture and Allied Sciences was formally launched on 14 August at the National Agriculture Science Center (NASC) Complex in New Delhi.

Under the program, 10 Fellowships will be given out per year for the next five years to students from ASEAN Member States, to enable them to study and earn a two-year Master's Degree in Agriculture and Allied Sciences from participating Indian higher education institutions. The Fellowship is being offered from beginning academic year 2024-25.

Philippine Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio keynoted the event, together with Indian Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other officials.

The Philippines was given prominence in recognition of its position as current “Country Coordinator” for ASEAN-India ties, a responsibility it took over from Singapore in July this year.

Joining them onstage were other dignitaries, namely, State Ministers for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Bhagirath Choudhary and Ram Nath Thakur, Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary (Indo-Pacific) Paramita Tripathi, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Director General Dr. Himanshu Pathak. 

The event’s guests, meanwhile, included other ASEAN Heads of Mission and diplomats, officials of ICAR and Indian State agricultural universities participating in the Fellowship, other MEA officials, and Indian and foreign students. 

Joining Ambassador Ignacio on the Philippine side were Embassy Economic Officer (Third Secretary and Vice Consul) Melissa Anne M. Telan and Attaché Rina Isabel P. de Chavez.

The program is being implemented by India under the rubric of its 'Act East Policy' and Indo-Pacific Vision that seeks to promote comprehensive cooperation with East Asia and the Pacific, and particularly ASEAN.

The Fellowship is seen to foster people-to-people and expert links, particularly among Indian and ASEAN agricultural experts, to enhance understanding of agriculture-related issues of shared interest. 

“(This Fellowship) that we are launching today is the latest shining example of this impactful collaboration between India and ASEAN”, said Ambassador Ignacio. “It affirms our abiding shared commitment to advancing agricultural excellence and collaboration and emphasizes yet again Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of keeping ASEAN at the center of the Act East Policy.”

Currently, around 135 international students are pursuing their degrees at various agricultural universities. END

ROUNDTABLE CITES ROLE OF PHILIPPINE COORDINATORSHIP IN SUSTAINED FORWARD MOTION OF ASEAN-INDIA PARTNERSHIP

NEW DELHI— The Philippines will resolutely drive forward the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between ASEAN and India during its three-year stint as “Country Coordinator for Dialogue Relations” between the regional grouping and the South Asian powerhouse.

This was the central message of Philippine Ambassador to India Josel F. Ignacio, as he joined eminent keynote speakers at a Roundtable Discussion on "India and ASEAN: Celebrating 10 years of Act East Policy" hosted by the Embassy of Indonesia and Indian Futures, a New Delhi-based think tank.

The event was held to mark the 10^th year of India’s vaunted “Act East Policy”, a diplomatic initiative first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.

A leveling-up of India’s “Look East Policy” dating back to 1991, “Act East” expanded India’s Neighborhood First Policy to cover enhanced economic, strategic and cultural relations with countries in its extended eastern neighborhood, with ASEAN as “core”.

Ambassador Ignacio addressed the event in consideration of the Philippines’ assumption last month of the rotating role of “Country Coordinator” for ASEAN-India Dialogue Relations, taking over from Singapore. It will hold the post for three years.

Participating in the Roundtable were Heads of Missions and Officials of ASEAN Missions in New Delhi, as well as eminent resource persons on ASEAN-India ties.

These included retired Indian diplomats such as Ambassador and former External Ministry Secretary (East) Riva Ganguly Das, policy experts from think tanks such as the Research and Information System for Developing Studies (RIS), and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. 

Ambassador Ignacio mapped out the priority items in the ASEAN-India agenda that the Philippines will shepherd as Country Coordinator, among them the successor Plan of Action that will guide the partnership.

The Philippine Ambassador also paid tribute to the gains reaped from the Act East Policy over the past decade, citing India’s rise to become a major ASEAN partner especially in the economic, infrastructure, connectivty and socio-cultural spheres.

ASEAN now represents 11% of India’s global trade, totaling USD 122.67 billion.

Ambassador Ignacio urged further efforts to attain economic integration and to boost connectivity in line with the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. He invited consideration of elevated security cooperation. “On the security front, our collaboration must remain agile, with a strong foundation in international law, including the 1982 UNCLOS, particularly regarding the maritime domain”, he emphasized.

The Roundtable saw interactive and candid dialogue, with participants proffering illuminating data and insights both on achievements and even areas where uneven progress warrant further attention. END