Balikatan drills may expand beyond WPS, include more allies — Teodoro

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Friday said next year’s Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) drills could feature expanded activities and broader multinational participation as the Philippines and its allies push to strengthen regional defense cooperation amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific. Teodoro said future iterations of the annual Philippines–United States drills may include operations in areas beyond the West Philippine Sea. “What we tested now is still limited,” Teodoro told reporters on the sidelines of the Balikatan closing ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo. “We can increase the scope, but not necessarily the scale.” He said planners are considering introducing “more activities […]...

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