Recommendation to make India a part of NATO Plus
Recently a committee of USA has recommended to make India a part of NATO Plus.
- The above recommendation has been made by the Select Committee on the Communist Party of China. It is a committee of the United States House of Representatives.
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Plus-5 is a security alliance bringing together NATO countries and five partner countries. These five partner countries are: Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and South Korea. NATO Plus 5 aims to promote global defense cooperation.
- NATO is a 31-member military alliance. This includes 29 European countries and two countries in North America.
Significance of India’s inclusion in NATO Plus 5
- For the United States, the move would mean winning strategic competition with China in the Indo-Pacific region and ensuring Taiwan’s security.
- The move will also be helpful in effectively implementing economic sanctions in partnership with the Quad and G7 alliance countries.
- India is a prominent member of the Quad grouping. America, Australia and Japan are also its members.
- For India, joining NATO Plus 5 would mean that there would be continuous exchange of intelligence between NATO allies and India.
- India will be able to get the latest military technology without losing time.
- According to the committee, this step will help further the close partnership between the US and India.
- Although there is no defense treaty between India and the US, the US has granted India the status of a “Major Defense Partner” with “Strategic Trade Authorization-1” (STA – 1) category. This status facilitates license exemption for import of sensitive technology.
Major Non- NATO Ally: MNNA
- MNNA status is a designation under US law. Foreign partners who have this status are given certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation.
- Although, by getting the status of MNNA, a country definitely gets military and economic privileges, but the country having such status does not get any kind of security commitment.
- Note that an attack on one NATO member state is considered an attack on all member states, and therefore all member states receive security commitments.
- The US has designated 18 countries as MNNAs. These countries are: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia.
- India does not have MNNA status.
Source – The Tribune
