India has “firmly reiterated” its backing for the Philippines and its “national sovereignty,” as Manila continues mired in a territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.

In early March India announced deploying 10,000 troops to the western part of its disputed border with China while reassigning 9,000 soldiers to a new military command on the same front, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing sources.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, speaking alongside Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo following bilateral meetings in Manila on Tuesday, stressed that "it is essential" that states like theirs "cooperate more closely to shape the emerging order." "Every country has the right to uphold and enforce its national sovereignty," the Indian official said.

Third parties are "not in a position to interfere," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian declared regarding the dispute.

Manila granted the US greater access to four additional military stations in 2023 as part of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) shared in 2014. Beijing claims practically the entire South China Sea and Manila summoned Beijing's envoy after it accused Chinese warships of damaging a Philippine supply ship and wounding a crew near a contested reef.

The Indian Foreign Ministry  has dismissed Beijing's claim to the region as "absurd" and stated that "repeating baseless arguments… does not lend such claims any validity."

The US declared that it recognizes Arunachal Pradesh as part of India and "strongly opposes" China's "unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims." 

 Lin responded by saying during a press briefing in Beijing last week that "The China-India boundary question is a matter between the two countries and has nothing to do with the US side."

Last August, Indian and Chinese military commanders agreed to expedite efforts to resolve the longstanding border issue. However, the latest round of talks last month did not see any breakthroughs.