Checkmate legislation

In a carried away moment, the US Congress is bulldozing a piece of legislation to pamper India’s security profile. The US-India Defence Cooperation Act, 2024, calls for arming New Delhi against Beijing and Islamabad, and also to buckle up its status as a NATO partner. While the move is nothing but anti-China and is meant to check its growing influence in the region and beyond, including Pakistan in the same premise speaks of myopic calculations. Washington is well aware that Islamabad has been on the receiving end when it comes to international terrorism, and doling out unchecked military concessions to India will surely upset the balance of power in the region.

The bill, introduced by Senator Marco Rubio, who was also a presidential runner in 2015, proposes technology transfers to India, and endorses expanding international military education and training cooperation. The intention perhaps is to read deep into the mind of the Indian establishment which has kept its foreign policy options open by realigning with Russia, and is mending fences with China too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Moscow, and his proposed upcoming trip to Kiev must be bothering the State Department to somehow checkmate India by luring more towards the Western camp. But doing so in a brute manner by singling out China and Pakistan as threat icons is poor intellect.

India already is a darling of the United States when it comes to furthering hegemonic designs in Asia, especially in terms of China. The extra-territorial alliances such as AUKUS and QUAD are a case in point, wherein India is there to negate Chinese influence. Likewise, the growing economic interdependence and corporate mosaic leadership pitches India in the hall of fame for the US and its allies.

One of the irritating points in the proposed bill, which will sit in the house for long, is that it requires the US administration to submit “a report to Congress on Pakistan’s use of offensive force, including through terrorism and proxy groups, against India”, and to “bar Pakistan from receiving security assistance”. Threat perception evaluators must act in non-partisanship manner to strike out such misnomers.