US Senate Doesn’t Approve Amendment Recognizing India As Defence Partner
An amendment to US National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) was proposed in the US Senate but by an enormous bipartisan vote of 85-13 it was not passed for the following fiscal year which would have allowed India to be titled as a ‘strategic defence partner’ of the US.
Had the amendment been passed and approved, India would have been at par with America’s NATO allies encouraging trade, transfer of technology, combined military planning to combat piracy, support in provision of humanitarian relief and creating maritime domain awareness between the two countries. Furthermore, US would have had to maintain an office in the Pentagon devoted solely to US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative.
Senator John McCain showed a sense of regret, having moved the Bill, in a statement revealing his inability to debate and vote on matters critical to US national security, but also acknowledged and reminded of the two decades of Indo-US relationship turning into a ‘globally strategic defence partnership’ due to shared democratic values, economic firmness and peace.
