New Delhi, March 17 -- Philippines' Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo on Monday said that a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with India is under discussion, and his country is keen to deepen engagement with Indian businesses.

Interacting with the FICCI members here in the national capital, the Philippines' Secretary for Foreign Affairs said they are keen on deepening engagements with India in a number of areas: automotive, battery, value-added IT and ITES services, pharmaceuticals, health, and agriculture.

In particular, FICCI said in a statement that the Philippines invited India to source nickel from it for battery manufacturing.

This was part of the Philippine's strategy to diversify away from its current 98 p...