Senate defence act draft paves way for deeper US-India coordination

As part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the umbrella legislation that determines the United States (US)'s defence budget and priorities, the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) has asked the Pentagon to ensure that India is "appropriately considered for security cooperation benefits" consistent with its status as a major defence partner.

- Prashant Jha

In particular, the draft NDAA asks the US defense secretary to deepen cooperation with India in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), undersea domain awareness, air combat and support, munitions, mobility. It lists out a set of areas, including counter-terror operations, maritime and border security operations and military intelligence operations where Pentagon should consider a reciprocal agreement with India to build capacity. And it asks Pentagon to explore eligibility for Indian companies to bid on contracts for "maintenance, repair and overhaul" of Department of Defense (DOD)'s equipment located outside the US, a significant step which, if realised, will open up doors for India's mushrooming private defence firms.

To be sure, this version of NDAA, while passed on a bipartisan basis by the Senate Armed Services Committee, is not the final act yet. The House of Representatives is in the process of finalising its own version of the NDAA, and eventually the two versions, passed by the two chambers, will be reconciled in conference before the text is finalised.

The build-up

But the Senate's version is understood to have the sanction of the chamber's top political leadership, it is based on inputs from DOD, and it is a result of the intense engagement between the US Congress and India in recent months.