The Philippines and Germany on Sunday committed to signing a defence cooperation arrangement this year, vowing to stand for the international rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific region.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro committed to establishing long-term relations between their armed forces to expand training and bilateral exchanges, explore opportunities to expand bilateral armaments cooperation and engage in joint projects.

The two met in Manila during the first such visit by a German defence minister, as their countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations.

Teodoro said the Philippines, seeking to modernise its military to boost external defence, will be "looking to engage Germany as a possible supplier of these capabilities".

"These are in the command and control, anti-access aerial denial, maritime domain, aerial domain and in higher technologically capable equipment," Teodoro told a press conference with Pistorius.

Manila and Berlin are deepening military ties as tensions have flared in recent months between China and the Philippines, which have traded accusations over run-ins in disputed areas of the South China Sea, including charges China intentionally rammed Manila's navy boats seriously injuring a Filipino sailor.

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including areas claimed as exclusive economic zones by Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said Beijing's claims had no legal basis. China rejects that decision.

"This ruling remains valid, without any exceptions," said Pistorius. "It is our obligation to strengthen the maritime border and we are living up to it."

The South China Sea is a vital trade route with more than $3 trillion in ship-borne trade passing through it every year.

Teodoro said the Philippines was not provoking China and did not seek war, but reiterated Manila's stance that the only cause of conflict in the waterway "is China's illegal and unilateral attempt to appropriate most if not all of the South China Sea".

China has expressed concern about the growing ties between NATO members and Asian nations such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, as Washington and its partners expand alliances and partnerships, including those that span the globe.

Germany on Friday joined the U.S.-led United Nations Command in South Korea, becoming the 18th nation in a group that helps police the heavily fortified border with North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.

Pistorius said that move was evidence of Berlin's strong belief that European security is closely linked to security in the Indo-Pacific region.

Germany's commitments and engagements in the region "are not directed against anybody," Pistorius said in Manila. "Instead, we are focussing on maintaining rules-based order, securing freedom of navigation and protecting trade routes."

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German minister says mandate would be needed to help protect Israel

Germany's Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visits the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between South and North Korea. 

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said involving the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, in protecting Israel from a potential large-scale Iranian attack was not up for discussion.

Any military support through the provision of materials in any form would be decided upon "when the time comes," Pistorius said on the sidelines of a visit to Camp Bonifas at the border with North Korea. He is not involved in current discussions taking place in Berlin, he said.

Pistorius' comments came in response to a question about whether Germany, like the United States or other partners, might join an operation to protect Israel.

Any involvement of German soldiers, "which is completely inconceivable to [Pistorius] at the moment," would also require a mandate from the Bundestag, or parliament, he said. "Therefore, the question does not arise at all at the moment," he added.

Germany is among Israel's staunchest allies, and political leaders in Berlin have repeatedly stated that Israel has a right to self defence. Members of the German government have repeatedly affirmed in the past that the security of Israel is a German "matter of state."

The question comes amid growing fears of a conflagration in the Middle East, after a series of killings related to the war in Gaza which leaders have vowed to avenge.

Tensions in the region have risen following the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Iran and Hamas hold Israel responsible for Haniyeh's death, but Israel has neither confirmed nor denied a role.

Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah, have vowed "harsh punishment" for Israel after Haniyeh's killing. Israel will not "hold back" should Iran launch an attack in retaliation, a top Israeli security official warned on Friday.

As fears grow, the US said it plans to move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East to bolster its military presence in the region. The US Department of Defense is taking steps to "mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran’s partners and proxies," an official said.

After nearly 10 months of fighting between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, there are fears the Middle East now stands on the precipice of a regional war.

Such a wider war loomed after April 14, when Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. Nearly all were intercepted with the help of the US and other allies.

That barrage came after Iran blamed Israel for the killing of two Iranian generals in a strike on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus.

Israel's response to the April 14 attack was limited in scale, with a military base in central Iran hit.

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