Trump signs US defence bill, seeks 'broader engagement' with India

US President Donald Trump has signed an annual defence policy bill into law, emphasising the expansion of America's engagement with India, including through the Quad, to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific and address the challenges posed by China.

'Peace through strength' agenda

The National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026, signed into law on Thursday (December 18), authorises funding for the Department of War (DoW), Department of Energy national security programmes, the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence community, and other federal agencies.

“The Act will allow the DoW to implement my Peace Through Strength agenda, safeguard the homeland from domestic and foreign threats, and reinforce the defence industrial base, while eliminating funding for wasteful and radical programmes that undermine the warfighting ethos of our nation’s armed forces,” Trump said in a statement.

Focus on Indo-Pacific partnerships

The Act outlines ‘sense of Congress on Defence Alliances and Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region’.

Under this, the Secretary of Defence should continue efforts that strengthen US defence alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region to "further the comparative advantage of the US in strategic competition with China".

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This includes "broadening US engagement with India, including through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to advance the shared objective of a free and open Indo-Pacific region through bilateral and multilateral engagements and participation in military exercises, expanded defence trade, and collaboration on humanitarian aid and disaster response; and to enable greater cooperation on maritime security".

Security initiative to strengthen cooperation

The Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, comprising India, the US, Japan, and Australia, was set up in 2017 to counter China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Act states that the Secretary of Defence, in coordination with the Secretary of State, shall establish and maintain a security initiative to strengthen cooperation among the defence industrial bases of the US and allied and partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

This, it said, would strengthen the collective defence industrial base by expanding capability, capacity, and workforce, including enhanced supply chain security, interoperability, and resilience among participating countries.

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The two Secretaries shall establish a process to determine which allies and partners of the US (including Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, the Philippines, and New Zealand) shall be invited to participate as member countries of the security initiative, it said.

US-India nuclear liability assessment

In a section titled ‘Joint Assessment Between The United States And India On Nuclear Liability Rules’, the draft states that the Secretary of State shall establish and maintain within the US-India Strategic Security Dialogue a joint consultative mechanism with the Indian government.

This mechanism would convene regularly to "assess the implementation of the Agreement for Cooperation between the US Government and Government of India Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy, signed in Washington in 2008," it said.

The focus of this mechanism is to discuss opportunities for India “to align domestic nuclear liability rules with international norms; and to develop a strategy for the United States and the Republic of India to pursue bilateral and multilateral diplomatic engagements related to analysing and implementing those opportunities".

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It calls on the Secretary of State to submit a report describing the joint assessment about this not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Act, and annually thereafter for five years.