National Defense Authorization Act (NDDA) of the United States passed
- Recently the United States Senate and the House of Representatives have passed the US$ 858 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDDA).
- This ‘National Defense Authorization Act’ of the United States provides for strong defense ties with India. Also, arranges billions of dollars of funds to address the challenges presented by China
- The NDDA focuses on the most important national security priorities of the United States. These include strategic competition with China and Russia, disruptive technologies, etc.
- It emphasizes on strengthening US engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, it also stresses on expanding cooperation with India in the field of new technologies, readiness and logistics.
- It covers unmanned aerial vehicles, defensive cyber capabilities, cold weather capabilities, etc.
India – United States Defense Cooperation
- In the year 2016, the US granted India the special status of ‘Major Defense Partner’. After this, in the year 2018, India was specially given the status of ‘Strategic Trading Authority Tier 1’.
- This status was granted for the sale of high-technology products in the civil space and defense sectors.
India and the US have entered into the following defense agreements:
- The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was done in the year 2002 on the exchange of military information.
- Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) was concluded in the year 2016 to use each other’s military bases.
- The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed in the year 2018 for interoperability between the two armies and sale of high-end technology to India.
- The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) was signed in the year 2020 to share high level military technology, logistics and geospatial maps.
Source – The Print
