MANILA — The Philippines and the United States will hold ministerial talks in Washington on April 11 to deepen security and economic relations, the US State Department announced Thursday (Manila time).

The so-called 2-plus-2 talks will involve Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Philippine Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., US State Secretary Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III.

"At the 2+2 Ministerial, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin will reaffirm the United States’ ironclad commitment to our alliance with the Philippines, which has contributed to peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region for more than 70 years," the US State Department said in a statement.

It said the talks also aimed to strengthen both countries' "close collaboration on advancing a free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient Indo-Pacific region."

This comes amid China’s assertive behavior in the South China Sea.

• Philippines names 4 sites for US military use

The 2-plus-2 talks between the Philippines and US will be its first in about 7 years.

It did not take place under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who was criticized for taking a soft stance with China.

Beijing has militarized outposts in disputed areas of the South China Sea despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated China's sweeping claims in the resource-rich waters.

China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

In February, Manila and Washington agreed to expand cooperation in "strategic areas" of the Philippines as they sought to counter Beijing's growing assertiveness over self-governed Taiwan and China's construction of bases in the South China Sea.

Malacañang on Monday announced the location of the 4 new bases that US troops could use in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

• FAST FACTS: Expanded US access to Philippine military bases

—With reports from Davinci Maru, ABS-CBN News; Kyodo News; Agence France-Presse

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