TAGUIG CITY — The United States Army’s top general highlighted the importance of "peace through strength" in the Indo-Pacific region.

US Army chief of staff General James McConville paid a courtesy visit Wednesday to Philippine Army commanding general Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. at the Army general headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

“We believe in the philosophy of peace through strength. Having strong allies and partners allows us to avoid those types of conflict,” McConville told reporters in Taguig City.

“What this relationship is is about peace and stability in the region. Peace comes through strength and that strength comes from having countries that believe that a conflict in the region will affect everyone negatively,” he added.

In their meeting, the two army leaders discussed the growing bilateral relations of the Philippines and the US.

McConville said this will further be strengthened with the recently established bilateral defense guidelines.

“We’ve been friends, partners and allies for so many years... It’s an opportunity to come together and continue to improve our relationship which is already strong and will only get stronger in the future,” he noted.

“The deliverables are our commitment to a strong relationship. We’re talking about trainings, exercises and working together."

Asked for his comment on China accusing the US of dragging the Philippines to conflict with the two countries reinvigorated ties, McConville said, “Our relationship is between us and we believe in having a strong relationship. Working together, we both share the same interest about peace, stability and prosperity in the region. That’s what this relationship is all about.”

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Brawner, for his part, welcomed McConville’s visit, saying this signifies the desire of both armies to strengthen their relations.

“We have been exercising for the longest time. This is nothing new. There is nothing that our neighbors or any other country should be worried about when we strengthen the bilateral relations we have or even as we establish the EDCA sites," Brawner said.

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"What we’re doing here is establish sites where we can help each other, not just in terms of training, but also preparing for disasters... We have been discussing how we can further strengthen our relations through more exercises, more trainings and exchanges of SMEs,” he added.