US Senator To Introduce Bill To Make India Part Of NATO Plus Grouping Amid Rising China

Amid the growing challenges posed by a rising China, a US Senator plans to introduce a bill that would make India a part of the NATO Plus grouping.

This move would facilitate the transfer of topmost American technology and defence equipment without much bureaucratic hassle.

The NATO Plus security arrangement currently includes NATO and five aligned nations — Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, and South Korea. Its purpose is to boost defence and intelligence ties.

Senator Mark Warner, the co-chair at the Senate Indian Caucus, announced at a news conference on 20 June that he and Senator John Cornyn will be introducing a standalone bill and an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act.

The aim of this effort is to upgrade India-US defence ties.

"What we propose is adding India to the so-called NATO plus five arrangement, where the United States is able to transfer, with this little bureaucratic interference as possible, defence equipment in a very strong way,” he said.

The Senate India Caucus, the only country-specific Congressional Caucus in the Senate, is co-chaired by Warner from the Democratic Party and Cornyn from the Republican Party.

Warner stated that the current relationship is limited to the United States, NATO, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. He believes that India's inclusion in this category will strengthen their defence ties, especially as they both face challenges related to China.

Warner, the Chairperson of the powerful Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, considers this week to be of great significance for US-India relations as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington for talks with President Joe Biden.

“I'm looking forward to my opportunities to both visit with Prime Minister Modi and a variety of meetings, hear his presentation to the United States Congress and attend the State Dinner in honour of Prime Minister Modi.

"Since India's independence, its relationships with the United States have gone through a variety of phrases," Warner said.

"We are now at a critical juncture of this relationship where we need to move beyond the kind of common descriptions of this tie between the world's oldest democracy, the United States, and the world's greatest and biggest democracy, India, and turn that into a full-fledged partnership,” he said.

Warner revealed he understands both the challenges and some of the opportunities as both India and the US deal with a rising China.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's successful visit to China is a positive development, but it's important to acknowledge, as both India and the US realise as well, that China poses potential economic and aggressive challenges in South Asia, according to Warner.

He, thus, emphasised the need for the US and India to "find a more common cause."

"The Quad is a great step forward in that area. India on defence alignment to the NATO plus five would be the next step,” Warner said.