US grants NATO status to India

American Senate wanted the Trump administration to strengthen and expand the scope of India's designation as a major defence partner on the lines of other NATO countries and close allies like Japan and Australia.

Washington: India gets NATO ally like status after the US Senate has passed a legislative provision on Tuesday. The status has brought India at a level with America.

The proposals for enhancing defence and strategic ties between India and the United States were included in the $750 billion defence budget passed by the Senate last week.

The defence budget passed by the Senate said: "It is the sense of the Senate that the United States should strengthen and enhance its major defence partnership with India in the fields of humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, counter-piracy and maritime security."

While India and the US have been holding joint exercises in the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions, the Senate urged to increase them and also conduct them in the Persian Gulf.

It wanted the administration to strengthen and expand the scope of India's designation as a major defence partner. India was accorded the status in 2016 by former President Barack Obama and built upon by Trump. That status is shared by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) countries and other close US allies like Japan and Australia.

In a recognition of the shared democratic values and commitment to free navigation, another suggestion in the budget document is to increase engagement with India in multilateral frameworks "to promote regional security and defend shared values and common interests in the rules-based order". It said that the quadrilateral dialogue among the US, India, Japan and Australia should be enhanced.

The budget proposals related to India were introduced by the Senate India Caucus Co-Chairs, Senators John Cornyn and Mark Warner.

Hindu American Foundation Managing Director Samir Kalra said the organisation commended them for their "hard work in advancing the US-India strategic partnership."

An amendment along the lines of the Senate provisions for India has been proposed for the House version of the defence budget by Representative Brad Sherman and others.