Sen. Marco Rubio introduces legislation to strengthen the nation’s relationship with India

Sen. Marco Rubio introduced the U.S.-India Defense Cooperation Act on Thursday. The goal of the proposed legislation was to help forge stronger ties with India amid emerging influences in the region made by China.

“The U.S.-India partnership is vital to countering influences from Communist China,” Rubio announced in a press release. “In order to strengthen this partnership, it is essential to enhance our strategic diplomatic, economic, and military relationship with New Delhi.”

The legislation promotes bilateral cooperation to counter potentially hostile geopolitical actions taken near India by China. Rubio’s legislation takes several steps to prevent that and lays the groundwork for what to do in the future in such a situation.

Rubio’s Act would deem it as U.S. policy to support India against threats to its borders and commit to providing the country with security assistance to deter such adversarial actions. Rubio’s bill would also promote cooperation with India to promote joint efforts “with respect to defense, civil space, technology, medicine, and economic investments.”

The bill would establish that India would be acknowledged in the same status as other American and NATO allies regarding cooperative technology transfers. It also grants the Secretary of State the authority to “with respect to defense, civil space, technology, medicine, and economic investments” with India.

Rubio’s legislation grants Congress the ability to expedite defense weapons and arms, along with “design and construction services,” in such a geopolitical scenario that would align with “U.S. interests and it is in the interest of peace and stability of India to have the capabilities needed to deter threats.”

“Communist China continues to aggressively expand its domain in the Indo-Pacific region, all while it seeks to impede the sovereignty and autonomy of our regional partners,” Rubio said. “It’s crucial for the U.S. to continue its support in countering these malicious tactics. India, along with other nations in the region, is not alone.”