US select committee on CCP recommends India to be on NATO plus
- In Reports
- 10:41 PM, May 27, 2023
- Myind Staff
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit, a Congressional Committee or the Select Committee on CCP (Chinese Communist Party) in the US has recommended India become a part of NATO Plus.
NATO Plus, now known as NATO Plus 5, is a security agreement that brings together NATO and five associated states – Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, and South Korea – to strengthen global defense cooperation.
Bringing India on board would facilitate seamless intelligence sharing between these countries and India would access the latest military technology without much of a time lag.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), chaired by Mike Gallagher and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, unanimously approved a proposal for a policy that would strengthen Taiwan's deterrence and broaden NATO Plus to include India.
“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 committee maintains that the best way for important allies like the G7, NATO, NATO+5, and Quad members to take part and negotiate a coordinated response is to impose economic sanctions on China in the event that it intends to attack Taiwan and that making this message widely known has the added benefit of bolstering deterrence.
“Much as we do joint contingency planning for warfighting, we need to coordinate with US allies in peacetime.”
In order to do this, the Committee proposed that Congress pass legislation resembling the STAND with Taiwan Act of 2023, which calls for the creation of a set of economic sanctions to be employed in the case of a PRC attack on Taiwan.
Additionally, the committee suggested that the TAIPEI Act be modified and that the United States encourage Taiwan's membership in international organizations.
Indian-American Ramesh Kapoor, who has been working on this proposal for the past six years, said this is a crucial development. He hoped that the recommendation will be included in the National Defence Authorisation Act, of 2024, and eventually become law.
The Select Committee on the CCP, according to its official website, is “committed to working on a bipartisan basis to build consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party and develop a plan of action to defend the American people, our economy, and our values.”
Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democratic representative on the panel, from Illinois, suggested that Democrats and Republicans should cooperate.
“We must practice bipartisanship. We must recognize that the CCP wants us to be fractious, partisan, and prejudiced,” a reference to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Krishnamoorthi.
Image source: OpIndia
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