The Philippines and Indonesia agreed to pursue more “practical cooperation” on defense, border management, maritime, and other areas during a high-level bilateral meeting on Thursday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, who is currently in Indonesia for a working visit, co-chaired the 8th Philippine-Indonesia Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) with Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sugiono in Jakarta.

“Pleased to have co-chaired the 8th PHL-IDN Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) with Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Sugiono in Jakarta. We agreed on practical cooperation, including on defense, border management, maritime, trade, and legal cooperation,” she said in a post on X.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, has yet to provide details when asked what specific cooperation activities on said areas the two sides are planning to identify.

Beyond maritime, Lazaro said she and Sugiono also reaffirmed support for regional solutions on issues confronting Southeast Asia, as well as the Philippines and Indonesia’s “commitment to international law and the paramount importance of diplomacy, dialogue and the peaceful settlement of disputes.”

The two ministers also discussed the progress of registration of Persons of Filipino Descent (PFDs) in Indonesia and further advancing the two states’ people-to-people ties.

Indonesia and the Philippines manage their shared maritime border in the Mindanao and Sulawesi regions through the 2014 landmark agreement delineating the boundary between their overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs). (PNA)