The Congressional Committee has strongly suggested that NATO Plus be expanded to incorporate India, a major event before Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to America.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Plus unites NATO with five other nations, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and South Korea, to enhance global security and defence cooperation.
Adding India to the coalition of nations would facilitate the seamless exchange of intelligence between them, while simultaneously providing India with the latest military technology.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), chaired by Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi, unanimously adopted a policy proposal to bolster Taiwan’s deterrence by adding India to NATO Plus.
“Winning the strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party and ensuring the security of Taiwan demands the United States strengthen ties to our allies and security partners, including India. Including India in NATO Plus security arrangements would build upon the US and India’s close partnership to strengthen global security and deter the aggression of the CCP across the Indo-Pacific region,” the Select Committee recommended.
The China Committee, also referred to as the Select Committee, is an initiative led by the Republican party.
Ramesh Kapoor, an Indian-American, has been working on this proposal for six years, making it a significant development.
He hoped that the suggestion would be included in the National Defense Authorization Act 2024 and ultimately be converted into an obligatory regulation.
In its set of recommendations, the China Committee asserted that, should Taiwan come under attack, economic penalties against China would be most effective if key partners such as the G7, NATO, NATO+5, and participants of the Quad join in.
Negotiating and publicizing a collective response to the issue can not only increase deterrence, but also provide added benefits.
“Much like we do joint contingency planning for warfighting, we need to coordinate in peacetime with US allies. To that end, Congress should pass legislation similar to the STAND with Taiwan Act of 2023 that mandates the development of an economic sanctions package to be employed in the event of a PRC attack on Taiwan,” it said.
Moreover, it should introduce laws to counteract the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) economic pressures, such as measures for helping foreign partners affected by the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) economic coercion. Concurrently, it should finance Taiwan’s standing.
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