U.S.-Philippines Pact Could Modestly Boost American Arms Sales
By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new 10-year security pact between the United States and the Philippines could lead to modest increases in U.S. weapons sales in coming years, especially for maritime surveillance equipment, analysts said on Sunday.
The agreement, to be signed on Monday, establishes a framework for an increased U.S. military presence in the Philippines and is part of a “rebalancing” of U.S. resources toward the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.
The deal comes 23 years after the Philippine Senate voted to evict the U.S. military from bases there, ending 94 years of American military presence in the Asian nation.
Virginia-based defence analyst Loren Thompson noted that the deal came as China increasingly encroaches on maritime areas claimed by Manila in the South China Sea, even as a long-running Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines is abating.
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http://www.euronews.com/newswires/2472230-us-philippines-pact-could-modestly-boost-american-arms-sales/
