New Delhi, Aug 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the BJP-led NDA parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, a get-together of the ruling alliance’s MPs which is being held after a considerable gap.

The NDA meeting comes a couple of days before the filing of nominations for the vice president’s election begins from August 7. The NDA will have to announce its candidate, whose election will be a certainty due to the alliance’s majority in the electoral college, by August 21, the last date of nomination-filing and the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The meeting comes in the middle of a session which has been all but a washout so far, except for a two-day discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, due to a united Opposition’s ceaseless protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar by the Election Commission.

PM Modi is expected to speak on a host of current issues as the Opposition has been raising the heat over the poll body’s alleged partisan conduct, favouring the government, and the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

The prime minister is also likely to be felicitated by the parliamentary party over his government’s military response to the terror strike.

The electoral college for the vice president poll includes MPs of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and its current strength is 782. If the Opposition also names a candidate, a distinct possibility, then the poll is scheduled to be held on September 9.

Sources said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and a few BJP national general secretaries are likely to be coordinating with allies for the vice presidential poll.

Since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP lost its majority but comfortably crossed the halfway mark with allies, the sessional meeting of the party’s MPs was expanded to include its allies. PM Modi addressed the first such meeting on July 2.

However, no meeting has been held in the last few sessions.

Before the last national elections, he used to address the weekly meetings of the BJP parliamentary party, now expanded to include the party’s allies such as the TDP, JD(U), and LJP (Ram Vilas).

The meeting is attended by MPs of the ruling alliance, and PM Modi often covers a sweep of political and governance issues, and at times touches on the government’s agenda in Parliament.

He often offers the MPs talking points to be raised in public, especially in their constituencies.

New Delhi, Aug 4: Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. arrived in New Delhi on Monday afternoon for his first State Visit to India, as the two nations commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. President Marcos was received at the airport by Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita and accorded a ceremonial welcome.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called the visit a significant moment in India-Philippines ties, which are anchored in shared civilizational links, mutual strategic interests, and growing economic engagement. “This visit will lead to further strengthening of India and Philippines relations,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on social media platform X.

India and the Philippines formalised diplomatic ties in November 1949, but their historical connections stretch back centuries. Linguistic and cultural influences including Sanskrit-origin words in Tagalog, the ancient Kavi-script Laguna Copperplate Inscription, and the localised Ramayana version Maharadia Lawana, bear testimony to early Indian influence on the archipelago.

As India pivoted towards East and Southeast Asia with the launch of its “Look East” Policy in 1992, later rebranded as “Act East” bilateral ties with the Philippines saw renewed vigour. The Philippines is now seen as a vital partner in India’s Indo-Pacific outreach, Vision MAHASAGAR, and maritime engagement in ASEAN.

The two countries have maintained a regular high-level dialogue in recent years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Marcos last interacted during the 21st ASEAN-India Summit and 19th East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR, in October 2024. They had earlier met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Summit in Jakarta in September 2023. External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo held multiple rounds of talks over the past year. The two met in March 2025 during the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi and again in July 2024 in Vientiane. Dr. Jaishankar also visited Manila in March 2025, where he called on President Marcos and held meetings with defence and foreign policy counterparts.

Economic engagement remains a cornerstone of bilateral ties. Two-way trade reached USD 3.5 billion in 2023–24, driven by Indian exports in pharmaceuticals, IT services, textiles, and agriculture. India is currently the largest exporter of pharmaceutical products to the Philippines, with pharma exports increasing from USD 290 million in 2020–21 to USD 460 million in 2024–25. Indian businesses have a visible presence in the Philippine market across sectors such as infrastructure, automobiles, healthcare, and chemicals. Notably, Indian firms contributed to building the passenger terminal at Clark International Airport between 2018 and 2020.

As part of the 75th-anniversary celebrations, a commemorative logo was unveiled in November 2024 by EAM Dr. Jaishankar and Philippine Ambassador Josel F. Ignacio in New Delhi. The symbolic gesture reflects a shared commitment to further deepen multifaceted ties in the years ahead. President Marcos’s ongoing State Visit is expected to include wide-ranging discussions with Indian leaders on defence, economic partnership, and regional security, further consolidating a relationship that draws strength from both ancient connections and contemporary strategic interests.