India could soon be included to be part of the informal multilateral group, Squad, including Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the United States. India is already part of the Quad Bloc with Australia, Japan and the United States, which strives to support a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
The Philippines and its allies try to expand the grouping of the squad and to include India as well as South Korea, according to the Brawner, the head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Speaking in the raisina dialogue 2025, Brawner said: “With Japan and our partners, we are trying to extend the team to include India and probably South Korea.” Brawner was part of a round table with his Japanese counterpart, the chief of the Indian navy Dinesh K Tripathi, the commander of the American Indo-Pacific command and the chief of the joint Australian operations.
Brawner said his country made efforts to improve his deterrent capacities, in particular by working with Squad, in the midst of degenerate confrontations between Manila and Beijing in the disputed waters of the Southern China Sea. China claims most of the strategic navigable path, as opposed to the affirmations of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Addressing journalists, Brawner said: “We find points in common with India because we have a common enemy. And I am not afraid to say that China is our common enemy. It is therefore important to collaborate together, perhaps to exchange intelligences.” Brawner said the Philippines already had a partnership with the military and Indian defense industry.
He also declared that they will open the potential for membership of the Indian team to a meeting with the Chief of the Defense Staff of India, General Anil Chauhan, who was later scheduled for the day.
