President Ferdinand ”Bongbong” Marcos Jr. arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of the Republic of India.

A ceremonial welcome was given to Marcos by the Indian officials. First Lady Louise ”Liza” Araneta-Marcos was also present during the reception.

The Philippine president will meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu to tackle regional issues, including defense and security as well as the economy.

Marcos said this during the ceremonial reception accorded to him at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of the President of the Republic of India. He was welcomed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu.

”I want to build upon what we already have now, but certainly to explore the many opportunities that have arisen in the past two years because of the new technologies and the changing state of the global economy and the geopolitics around this thing,” Marcos said.

Marcos said the Philippines is ramping up its relations with India, which is considered as the fourth largest economy in the world.

”In the coming days, our delegation will be engaging not only the government of Prime Minister Modi, but also India’s biggest enterprises. We would like to see them invest more and generate more jobs back home,” Marcos had said.

He also announced that the two nations would inaugurate a strategic partnership, which means that the ”cooperation will intensify further and become even more impactful in many, many areas that we had not explored with India before such as defense, trade and investment, health, tourism, other areas.”

The President is on a five-day state visit to India and he will return to Manila on Friday, August 8.