US Congress seeks strategy for measurable progress on defense relations between India and the United States



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Nearly two years after the United States designated India as "Major Defense Partner", the US Congress asked the Trump Administration to propose a strategy that would reflect measurable progress in its defense links with India. A report of the US Congressional Conference comprising bipartisan groups of members of the Armed Services Committees of the House and Senate has made a provision on this subject in the Authorization Act today. National Defense (NDAA) -2019.

According to a summary of the conference report, the NDAA-2019 requires the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State to present a forward-looking strategy and specific benchmarks for measurable progress toward US military cooperation with the United States. India and the status of India.

The full report of the conference will be available in the coming days. NDAA-2019 now moves to the Senate and House for an official passage before it can be sent to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign a law

Among other things, NDAA expands the 39 authority to the Maritime Security Initiative (MSI) for five additional years, redefines the ISM of Southeast Asia as Indo-Pacific MSI, includes Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in as recipient countries of assistance and training and adds India as a covered country eligible for the payment of certain expenses.

The Secretary of Defense must also present a five-year plan for an Indo-Pacific stability initiative.

Noting that the National Defense Strategy identifies the reappearance of long-term strategic competition as the major challenge facing the United States, the conference report classifies China and Russia as strategic competitors seeking to Shaping the world towards their authoritarian model through destabilizing activities, threatening the security of the NDAA unit, according to the conference report, includes the law on the modernization of the review of the risks associated with terrorism. 39, foreign investment and the Export Control Reform Act to give the Committee on Foreign Investment the power to deter member states and their allies. United States (CFIUS) the authority needed to address national security concerns.

It also requires a public report on China's military and coercive activities in the South China Sea

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