HANOI — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday recognized Vietnam’s push to ask a United Nations panel to extend the limits of its continental shelf, saying the Philippines is ready to work with its strategic partner “at the appropriate time.”

“I acknowledge the interest of Viet Nam in pursuing a Joint Submission on the Extended Continental Shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS),” Marcos Jr. said during his meeting with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.

“The Philippines is willing to work with Viet Nam for a joint submission at the appropriate time,” he added.

The Filipino leader did not discuss further details of the joint submission.

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Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country’s continental shelf is the part of the seabed over which a coastal state exercises sovereign rights over natural resources, including oil and gas deposits as well as other minerals and biological resources of the seabed.

If the continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles, a state will be required to make a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) identifying the coordinates of the outer limits along with technical and scientific data to support the claim.

The CLCS then evaluates the submission before the extension of the continental shelf becomes final and binding.

The Philippines and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the resource-rich Spratly Islands, but the two nations have managed to resolve their territorial and jurisdictional dispute by peaceful means thanks to their strategic partnership agreement signed in 2015.