Trump signs NDAA 2026, reinforcing US defence partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, including India and the Quad.
Law calls for expanded military cooperation, defence trade, and industrial base collaboration with regional allies.
Act mandates a joint US–India assessment on nuclear liability rules under the 2008 civil nuclear agreement.
US President Donald Trump has signed into law an annual defence policy bill that underscores an expanded American focus on India and the Quad, as Washington seeks to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific and respond to the strategic challenge posed by China, according to PTI.
The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026 was signed into law on Thursday. It authorises funding for the Department of War (DoW), Department of Energy national security programmes, the Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security, the Intelligence Community, and other executive departments and agencies. In a statement, Trump said: “The Act will enable the DoW to carry out my Peace Through Strength agenda, protect the homeland from domestic and foreign threats, and strengthen the defence industrial base, while eliminating funding for wasteful and radical programmes that undermine the warfighting ethos of our Nation’s men and women in uniform.”
The law sets out the ‘sense of Congress on Defence Alliances and Partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region’, calling on the Secretary of Defence to continue efforts to strengthen US alliances and partnerships in the region to “further the comparative advantage of the US in strategic competition with China,” PTI reported.
As part of this approach, the Act stresses the need to broaden US engagement with India, including through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, to advance the shared objective of a free and open Indo-Pacific. This engagement is to be pursued through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, participation in military exercises, expanded defence trade, collaboration on humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and deeper cooperation on maritime security. The Quad, comprising India, the US, Japan and Australia, was established in 2017 amid concerns over China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.
The legislation also directs the Secretary of Defence, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to establish and maintain a security initiative aimed at strengthening cooperation among defence industrial bases of the US and its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, according to PTI. The initiative is intended to enhance collective defence industrial capabilities by expanding capacity and workforce development, while improving supply chain security, interoperability and resilience.
In a separate section titled ‘Joint Assessment Between The United States And India On Nuclear Liability Rules’, the law mandates the establishment of a joint consultative mechanism within the US–India Strategic Security Dialogue. According to PTI, this mechanism will be convened regularly to assess the implementation of the 2008 Agreement for Cooperation between the US Government and the Government of India on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
The focus of the consultations will be to examine opportunities for India to align its domestic nuclear liability framework with international norms, and to develop a joint strategy for bilateral and multilateral diplomatic engagement on analysing and implementing such opportunities. The Secretary of State has been asked to submit a report on the joint assessment within 180 days of the Act’s enactment, and annually thereafter for five years.
The law further clarifies that, for the purposes of the relevant section, an “ally or partner nation” includes any country that is a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, “the Government of the Republic of India”, and any country designated as an ally or partner nation by the Secretary of State.
(With inputs from PTI)
