US Congress passes $700 bn defence bill

WASHINGTON: The US Congress has passed an enhanced $700 billion defence bill, which directs the administration to find a “common definition” of ties with India as a “Major Defence Partner” (MDP) and operationalise it by designating an official responsible for it.

The bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2018, also keeps up the pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorists by tying certain defence payments to actions against the Haqqani Network.

A move to add Lashkar-eTaiba to this list was blocked by the defence department.

NDAA 2018 has been sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

The MDP designation — neither country uses it for any of their global partners — seeks to promote defence cooperation, trade, co-production and co- development of military hardware.

The moniker was codified into law by the 2017 defence budget act, after being announced by former US President Barack Obama at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ND AA 2018 moves the ball forward by institution ali sing the relationship. Section 1258 of the bill, titled “Advancements in defence cooperation between the United States and India”, directs the departments of state, defence and commerce to “jointly produce a common definition that recognises India’s status as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ for joint use” by the three departments.

The legislation also directs the state and defence departments to appoint an official responsible for shepherding MDP ties.

It also en joins the administration to add to defence cooperation between the two countries an enhanced role for US “partners and allies” and “support joint exercises, operations, and patrols and mutual defence planning with India”. HTC