National Defense Authorisation Act | 03 Jul 2019

The U.S. Senate has passed the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2020 that brings India at par with America’s NATO allies and countries like Israel and South Korea for increasing defence cooperation.

• The amendment provides for increased U.S.-India defence cooperation in the Indian Ocean in the areas of humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, counter-piracy and maritime security.
• The bill would be signed into law after both the chambers of the U.S. Congress, i.e. the House of Representatives and the Senate passes it.
• The “upgrade” will also smoothen the passage of sales to India of high–end US military hardware to India.
• The US has already given India Strategic Trade Authorization-1(STA Tier-1) status, a move that facilitates the exchange of high technology and strengthens defence collaboration, and also designates India as a “Major Defence Partner”, in 2016.
• While the major non-Nato ally status or its equivalent, does not automatically enjoins a mutual defence pact with the United States (as it does with Nato allies), it still confers a variety of military and financial advantages that otherwise are not obtainable by non-NATO countries.