Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday sees the Philippines having stronger defense ties with Lithuania.

Teodoro held a bilateral meeting with Lithuania Minister for National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė at Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

“There is also a lot to learn from Lithuania in technology, in resilience, as the extensive topics that were stated by Her Excellency the Minister earlier, and we look forward to deepening our ties with Lithuania,” Teodoro said.

Earlier, Šakalienė said she was honored to visit the Philippines as she is the first Lithuanian defense minister to visit the country.

She added that this marks their “deepening commitment to our bilateral and Indo-Pacific security cooperation.”

Šakalienė sees a great potential for cooperation with the Philippines in many areas, such as maritime security, protection of critical underwater infrastructure, hybrid threats and disinformation, cyber security, exchange of intelligence and military exchange.

Teodoro said the visit of the Lithuanian defense minister is a good example of “extra-regional cooperation” which he and Šakalienė discussed during the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore last May.

“And this is one of the outcomes — this visit is one of the outcomes of the extra-regional partnerships that smaller countries in particular, like the Philippines and Lithuania, need to build, because we see common threats, common challenges, not only of threat actors but also of situational considerations,” Teodoro said.

Teodoro said there is a need to insist on the proper application of international law, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and other international norms, and to resist any attempt to unilaterally redefine the same, to the detriment of the smaller countries who need the protection of international law.

“In order for us to retain our territorial integrities and sovereignties, and to steward our resources and our natural gifts for future generations. So it is indeed for sustainability. And in this context, the minister’s visit is most welcome, and it just shows the firm commitment of Lithuania as an additional partner, extra-regional additional partner to a shared endeavor of upholding international law,” Teodoro said. (PNA)