To boost defence ties with India, US passes $696 bn expenditure bill

The US House of Representatives passed a legislation on Friday that authorises a budget of $696 billion for US defense forces for year 2018 and, separately, directs the administration to evolve ways to advance defense ties with India.

The legislation, called the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2018, passed with bipartisan support and will be reconciled with a bill that the US senate will pass before a combined legislation, is being sent for the president’s signature.

After its enactment, the secretaries of state and defense will have 180 days to evolve a strategy to advance defense cooperation between the United States and India, according to a provision added to the bill by Indian American lawmaker Ami Bera.

“It is vitally important to develop a strategy that advances defense cooperation between our two nations,” Bera, a Democrat who is the vice-ranking member of House foreign relations committee, said in a statement on the bill’s passage.

“I am grateful this amendment passed and look forward to the defense department’s strategy that addresses critical issues like common security challenges, the role of partners and allies, and areas for collaboration in science and technology.”

The NDAA is the annual defense budget but the omnibus legislation can typically address many related issues included through amendments moved by lawmakers, each of which are voted upon for final passage.

The NDAA, 2017, for instance, had included a provision that called for declaring India a “major defense partner”, to enhance military-to-military ties and defense trade between the two countries.

The Obama administration had already designated India a “major defense partner” by then, giving it access to defense equipment and technology — including for joint production and development — that the US shares only with its closest allies.

The BJP is staring at a potential crisis in Rajasthan, a state that sent 25 party MPs to the Lok Sabha in 2014. The Vasundhara Raje government, which once set the agenda of political discourse with bold labour reforms, financial inclusion schemes, cashless healthcare and subsidised kitchens for the poor, seems to be under siege.

Just when she was deploying her troops, the MLAs and the ministers, to counter the opposition Congress’ onslaught on the issue of agrarian crisis leading to suicide by farmers — and her failure to announce a farm loan waiver, as done by her counterparts in some other BJP-ruled states — yet another police encounter has come to haunt her. Rajputs, loyal supporters of the ruling BJP, are on a warpath over the killing of gangster Anandpal Singh, a Rajput, in a police