Blinken, Austin, Filipino counterparts meet in DC

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reinforced the strong relationship with the Philippines on Tuesday at the State Department.

In a sign of deepening defense cooperation, Blinken and Austin met with the Philippine foreign and defense secretaries to discuss the American military presence and proposed joint naval patrols.

This comes as American and Filipino forces on Tuesday launched their largest combat exercises in decades in the Philippines.The annual drills by the longtime treaty allies called Balikatan — Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder” — will run up to April 28 and involve more than 17,600 military personnel.