According to American Congressman Ro Khanna, including India as the sixth member of NATO plus would push New Delhi closer to a defence and security alliance with the US.
According to Khanna, who spoke exclusively with ANI, the US has the similar deal with Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Israel, and South Korea. He also claimed that NATO Allies receive speedy approval on defence agreements.
“I have worked to attempt to include India as the sixth nation to that, and that would assist and make it simpler to have this expanding Defense Partnership and ensure that we’re bringing India into a more defensive security alignment with the US and Russia. I first mentioned it two years ago. I’m going to keep working on it. Hopefully, in later Congresses, we can pass that amendment ” he added.
This follows the US House of Representatives’ unanimous approval on July 14 of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that calls for strengthening defence ties between the US and India. Californian Democrat and progressive Khanna proposed this amendment.
Speaking about the waiver’s importance to American national security interests, Khanna revealed that it was the most critical vote to advance US-India relations since the resoundingly successful civilian nuclear agreement that received 300 votes from both parties.
“The United States has a solid connection with India, which is why it is in our best interests. Given that we are both democratic countries and that Putin and China are both growing, a defence collaboration and strategic partnership are essential for the United States “added the congressman who is Indian-American.
Khanna addressed it with ANI and stated, “Always keep in mind that it involves more than just threatening punishment. It talks about how crucial it is to improve our defence cooperation with India. The difficulty is that Russian weaponry are currently more affordable. But as we can see from the conflict in Ukraine, Russian weapons are also subpar. In my opinion, the SU 57 simply cannot compete with US military hardware like the F-22 or F-35.
In order to ensure that we remain the leaders in technology, it is in America’s best interest to recruit talented Indian scientists and engineers. In the end, India benefits from American technology being better than Russian technology.”
Speaking to ANI on the amendment’s emphasis on the Chinese threat to India, Khanna said, “You see India as the border threat that they must deal with. And as you are aware, the United States has been the main provider of security. The United States helped India with those border clashes a few years ago. Therefore, I believe that the US-India alliance benefits both countries, since it will make the US a much more dependable and powerful partner while also benefiting India’s security.”
Israel, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and South Korea are five US and NATO allies that will be included in NATO Plus, which aims to improve international defence cooperation. According to US politicians, India is one of the “Plus five” nations. “We have successfully worked with the US-India Security Council (USISC) for the passage of the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement, and now with USISC for the inclusion of an amendment to the NDAA, expanding NATO plus five to NATO plus six to include India,” said Peter R. Rosenblatt, Member of the Board of Governors of American-Jewish Committee (AJC), as quoted by PTI.
