President Trump’s mammoth $901 billion defence bill that he signed late on Friday calls for expanded U.S. military engagement with India and deeper cooperation through the Quad as part of Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
It calls for increased participation in joint military exercises, greater defence trade, and closer cooperation on humanitarian assistance and disaster response. It also identifies maritime security as a priority area for deeper U.S.-India collaboration.
It requires the secretaries of state and defence to establish and maintain a secuinitiative to strengthen cooperation among the defence industrial bases among allied and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific.
The two officials will determine which among six countries (Australia, Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines and New Zealand) will be invited to participate in this initiative
The new law authorises the creation of an Ambassador-at-Large for the Indian Ocean who will coordinate diplomatic efforts across the region to counter the “malign” influence of China.
The law mandates a joint U.S.-India assessment of nuclear liability rules under the United States-India Strategic Security Dialogue.
It directs the Secretary of State to establish a recurring consultative mechanism with India to review implementation of the 2008 civil nuclear agreement, explore opportunities for aligning India’s domestic nuclear liability framework with international norms, and develop joint diplomatic strategies on civil nuclear cooperation.
It embeds expanded military, nuclear and regional engagement with India into US defence legislation.
The new law also sets aside $1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative and includes a provision aimed at preventing Chinese military firms from evading US restrictions through third party countries.
It requires the Trump administration to maintain at least 76,000 troops in Europe and sets aside $800 mn for Ukraine to be spent half this year and half the next. Another $400 million was set aside to fund manufacture of weapons for Ukraine.
Israel too has benefited with $600 million that would fund joint missile defence programmes such as the Iron Dome.
