WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives today passed the annualdefense spending bill for fiscal 2019, which among other things seeksbetter defense relationship with India and greater American commitment inthe Indo-Pacific region in view of the challenge being posed by China.
The National Defense Authorization Bill or NDAA-2019, was passed by theHouse of Representatives by 351-66 votes. It now needs to be passed by theSenate, before it can be sent to the White House for the President DonaldTrump to sign it into law.
“In the Indo-Pacific region, the United States faces a near-term,belligerent threat armed with nuclear weapons and also a longer-termstrategic competitor,” said Congressman Mac Thornberry, Chairman of theHouse Armed Services Committee.
“In fact, four of the five key security challenges – China, Russia, NorthKorea, and terrorism – reside in the PACOM area of responsibility. Criticalto meeting all of the challenges in the region is our relationship with ourallies and also with countries with whom we share interests,” he said.
The bill seeks renaming US Pacific Command as Indo-Pacific Command. Itseeks a better defense relationship with India.
NDAA bolsters the Department of Defense’s efforts to plan for and providethe necessary forces, military infrastructure, logistics capabilities, andbilateral and multilateral training in the region through the Indo-PacificStability Initiative.
It invests in critical military capabilities to deter aggression andrespond rapidly to crisis and supports strong missile defense systems tocounter North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, including the DoD’sdevelopment of new capabilities and efforts to provide for a layereddefense of the homeland.
NDAA renames US Pacific Command to US Indo-Pacific Command to emphasise theCommands’ responsibility across the Pacific and Indian Oceans and requiresthe Department of Defense to conduct a study on the operationalrequirements needed for language expertise in Korean, Chinese Mandarin andRussian and a plan to address any shortfalls.
To counter aggression in the region, NDAA requires the Administration toconstruct a whole-of-government strategy to address China’s activities.
It requires an assessment and planned responses to address activities bythe Chinese Communist Party to include the use of political influence,information operations, use of intelligence networks, economic and militarytools, and cyber activities and a US strategic communication plan tocounter Chinese influence.
It also highlights China’s provocative military, maritime and airactivities in the Indo-Pacific region by requiring a quarterly report toCongress that may be disseminated to allies and partners. NDAA modifies theSoutheast Asia Maritime Security Initiative by renaming it Indo-PacificMaritime Security Initiative.
It would include India as a covered country and allow for the inclusion ofadditional countries in the Indo-Pacific region. In an accompanying report,the House said the US should continue to “develop and deploy robust missiledefense” in the Indo-Pacific region.
It allows the Pentagon to conduct missile defense exercises in theIndo-Pacific region with US regional allies and partners to improveinteroperability, it said.
Supporting quadrilateral cooperation among the United States, Japan,Australia and India, NDAA said Secretary of Defense may conduct aquadrilateral naval military exercise with these countries.NDAA also adds new reporting requirement on India-US defense relationship.
It now would include a description of the progress on enabling agreementsbetween the US and India, any limitations that hinder or slow progress,measures to improve interoperability and actions India is taking or theSecretary of Defense or the Secretary of State believe India should take,to advance the relationship with the United States.
Authorising USD 700 million as Coalition Support Fund to Pakistan, NDAA aspassed by the House says that not more than USD 350.0 million may beprovided until the Secretary of Defense certified that Pakistan is takingdemonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.
It also required the Defense Secretary to submit a report to thecongressional defense committees not later than 90 days after the date ofthe enactment of this Act describing the manner in which the Departmentprovides assistance to Pakistan.