PRESIDENT Aquino and US President Barack Obama will hold a bilateral meeting on November 18 at the sidelines of the 19th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit and related meetings in Bali, Indonesia, on strengthening military ties amid China’s increasing intrusions into the disputed areas in the South China Sea and other external threats in the region.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the meeting requested by Obama “will come on the heels of the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty [MDT] between the Philippines and the United States.”

“These high-level engagements between the two countries underscore their strong alliance and strategic partnership,” del Rosario said.

The treaty, signed by the Philippines and the US on August 30, 1951, commits both countries to come to each other’s defense against external armed attacks.

The Philippines is protesting the continuing Chinese military intrusions in the contested islands of the Spratlys in the South China Sea (referred to by the Aquino administration as West Philippine Sea).

The Philippines has proposed to Asean leaders the segregation of the disputed parts from the undisputed areas. The proposal, establishing a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Cooperation, also aims to demilitarize the disputed islands in the South China Sea.

During the meeting in Bali, del Rosario said the two heads of state would discuss the issues of common interest, such as maritime security, nonproliferation, disaster mitigation, food security and education, among other issues.

They will also exchange views and perspectives on key regional developments.

He said the meeting in Bali is the second for the two leaders. Mr. Aquino first met with the US President during the second Asean-US leaders’ meeting in New York in September 2010.