Manila. India and the Philippines have conducted their first-ever joint naval exercises in the disputed South China Sea, a high-profile military deployment that has drawn criticism from Beijing. China has separate territorial disputes with both Asian democracies and maintains a long-running regional rivalry with New Delhi.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner said Monday the two-day joint sail and exercises, which began Sunday, were successful. He expressed hope for more joint military activities with India in the future.

Asked whether Chinese forces responded during the drills, Brawner said, without elaborating, “We did not experience any untoward incident, but we were still shadowed. We expected that already.”

The Philippine military said two Chinese navy ships, including a guided-missile destroyer, were spotted about 25 nautical miles (46 kilometers) from one of the two Philippine navy frigates participating in the joint sail on Sunday.

China’s Southern Theater Command said it had conducted routine patrols in the South China Sea on Sunday and Monday, reaffirming its determination to defend China’s territorial and maritime claims.

Without naming India, the command accused the Philippines of drawing in “outside countries” to organize joint patrols, which it claimed undermined regional peace and stability.

China’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that territorial disputes should be resolved by countries directly involved, without third-party intervention.

Beijing and New Delhi have a longstanding land border dispute in the Himalayas, which sparked a monthlong war in 1962 and several deadly clashes in recent years. Separately, China’s expansive claims to nearly the entire South China Sea, a key global trade route, have led to repeated confrontations with the Philippines, Vietnam, and other claimant states. Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan also assert claims over parts of the contested waters.

The Philippines has carried out naval patrols in the disputed waters with its treaty ally, the United States, as well as with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and France. These efforts are intended to promote freedom of navigation and overflight and to strengthen deterrence against Chinese incursions.

Manila has allowed journalists to join maritime and aerial patrols to document China's increasingly assertive behavior, prompting angry reactions from Beijing.

In response to a question last week regarding Manila’s growing military ties, China’s Ministry of National Defense labeled the Philippines a “troublemaker” aligned with foreign forces to “stir up trouble” in what China claims as its territorial waters.

Brawner defended the joint activities, saying the Philippines must build deterrence to prevent war. “The way to do that is, number one, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has to be strengthened through modernization, and secondly, we need to partner with like-minded nations, and that’s what we’re doing with India,” he said last week.

Speaking during a reception aboard the Indian Navy tanker INS Shakti on Thursday, Brawner said the vessel’s port call in Manila went beyond symbolic gesture. It “sends a powerful signal of solidarity, strength in partnership, and the energy of cooperation between two vibrant democracies in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

He welcomed the deepening of ties between the two countries and reaffirmed their shared commitment to maritime security, regional stability, and a rules-based international order in one of the world’s most geopolitically sensitive regions.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. departed Monday for a five-day state visit to India, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top officials to enhance cooperation in defense, trade, investment, agriculture, tourism, and the pharmaceutical industry.

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