June 21, 2023 12:52 pm | Updated 11:35 pm IST - Washington DCTimed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival in Washington, the U.S. Senate’s India Caucus Co-Chairs, Mark Warner (Democrat, Virginia) and John Cornyn (Republican, Texas), will introduce legislation to give India ‘NATO plus five’ defence status. India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, however, had already rejected the framework for India. The arrangement currently exists between the U.S, its NATO partners and five countries: Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan and Israel. This is something the Biden administration (i.e., the Executive, which is separate from the U.S. Congress) understood “very, very well”, according to Mr. Jaishankar. I hope that we will hear from Prime Minister Modi a reaffirmation of his commitment to democracy and all that entails,” Mr. Warner added.

Source: The Hindu June 21, 2023 18:47 UTC