Teodoro meets with defense ministers of Lithuania, Canada, New Zealand

Philippine National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. held a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from Lithuania, Canada, and New Zealand on Saturday to deepen and broaden defense and security cooperation.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas offered Teodoro training on areas such as cybersecurity, the Department of National Defense said.

Teodoro also instructed senior defense officials to study the possibility of a memorandum of understanding with Lithuania on defense cooperation.

Bill Blair, the Canadian Minister of Defense, reaffirmed Canada's "long, enduring friendly relations" with the Philippines, the DND said.

Blair lauded the Philippines for forging defense and security alliances with countries such as the US, Japan, and South Korea.

Teodoro also met with Judith Anne Collins, the Minister of Defense of New Zealand. She opened the bilateral meeting by saying that her country was "deeply concerned with what is happening in the West Philippine Sea."

"New Zealand has to engage the Indo-Pacific region," she said.

"The Philippines is not causing the problem over there," Teodoro told Collins.

Teodoro and Collins also discussed stronger defense cooperation, particularly in engineering and logistics. —VBL, GMA Integrated News