India Gets NATO-ally Like Status By US Senate

  • 02 Jul 2019

The U.S. Senate in the last week of June 2019 has passed a legislative provision that brings India at par with America’s NATO allies.

Relevance of the News: The news highlights growing India-US relations and the trust enjoyed by both countries for each other.

US National Defense Authorisation Act, or NDAA:

  • The law brings India at par with America’s NATO allies and countries such as Israel and South Korea for increasing defence cooperation.
  • The law provides for increased U.S.-India defence cooperation in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf in the areas of humanitarian assistance, counter-terrorism, counter-piracy and maritime security.
  • The Bill has been passed by the US Senate and would be signed into law after both the chambers of the U.S. Congress — the House of Representatives and the Senate — pass it.

Directions of the Senate to Trump Administration:

  • The Senate directed the Trump administration to scout more steps to implement the ‘major defence partner’ designation.
  • It asked the administration to “facilitate interoperability, information sharing, and appropriate technology transfers" and to undertake "strategic initiatives to help develop the defence capabilities of India.”
  • It urged for "increasing the frequency and scope of exchanges" between senior civilian officials and military officers to boost defence partnership.
  • The Senate called for enhancement of the quadrilateral dialogue among the US, India, Japan and Australia.