US Congress seeks Pentagon briefing on India US cooperation in Western Indian Ocean

A Congressional conference on National Defense Authorisation Act has sought a briefing from the Pentagon on US-India defence cooperation in the Western Indian Ocean and ways to increase military engagement in the region.

The conference report on National Defense Authorisation Act or NDAA 2020 identified five topics to be covered in the briefing, including a description of military activities of the United States and India, separately, in the Western Indian Ocean, and a description of military cooperation activities between the two countries in the Western Indian Ocean.

The NDAA 2020 conference directs the Department of Defense to provide a briefing on this to the relevant Congressional committee before March 1, 2020.

The NDAA is the name for each of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the US Department of Defense. A Congressional conference is a joint committee of the United States Congress appointed by the House of Representatives and Senate to resolve disagreements on a particular bill.

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The conference report was approved by a conference committee comprising of members from the House of Representatives and the Senate on Monday.

The conference report also seeks a description of how the relevant geographic combatant commands coordinate their activities with the Indian military in the Western Indian Ocean and the mechanisms in place to ensure such cooperation is maximised.

It also seeks a briefing on a description of how the major defense partnership with India will be utilized to enhance cooperation in the Western Indian Ocean; and areas of future opportunity to increase military engagement with India in the Western Indian Ocean.