India Gets NATO Ally Like Status by US Senate

During the Second World War there was a need for securing peace in Europe, promoting cooperation among the members and safeguarding their freedom. This threat was posed by the expansion of the Soviet Union in Europe. In 1949 at Washington, a dozen European and North American countries signed a treaty for an alliance. This alliance was basically focused on democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law and also the peaceful resolution of disputes. This treaty explains the collective defence which means an attack against one ally is an attack against all the allies. This treaty was named as North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO and ensures the security of the countries and provides a forum for dialogue and cooperation.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was signed on April 4 1949 and is an intergovernmental military alliance which involves 30 member states of North America and European countries. It sets out an idea of collective defence which means if an ally is attacked by an external party all the member states will show mutual defence in response. The headquarters of NATO are in Belgium, Haren and Brussels. NATO ensures the security of European countries which is linked to the North American members. It provides a platform for maintaining foreign relations with many other external countries across the world. It also includes programmes like the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and the Partnership for Peace. 

India as Major Defence Partner

NATO has shared partnerships with many neutral and non-aligned states. But India is reluctant about this due to the deep connection of Delhi with the colonial era of the British. As communicating with NATO is an important part of India-European strategy it has begun to develop a distant framework. Moreover, the alliance with NATO can improve the passage of military hardware to India by signing security and secrecy agreements for such exchanges. India has already been designated ‘Major Defence Partner’ and has been granted Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA Tier-1) status that ensures the transactions of high technology and enhances defence collaboration. The National Defence Authorisation Act plays a role in reflecting long term India-US relations like the first form of nuclear trade agreement in 2008. India is entering a nuclear deal which will help in developing and trading military nuclear technology. According to recent reports, New Delhi, India is a major partner of the US from Asia that buys US military hardware.

NATO members

The membership increased greatly by 2004 when more than seven countries joined. But no countries left. Greece and Turkey were included in 1952 by the 20th century, in 1955 West Germany and in 1982 Spain joined. In 1999 Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland joined. Ten countries in the Baltics and Eastern Europe co-operated for NATO membership. In 2004 seven countries like Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined which belonged to the Vilnius group. In 2009 Albania and Croatia, in 2017 Montenegro and in 2020 Macedonia joined subsequently.

So, the 30 member states are-

• Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States (1949)
• Greece and Turkey (1952)
• Germany (1955)
• Spain (1982)
• Hungary, Czech Republic and Poland (1999)
• Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (2004)
• Albania and Croatia (2009)
• Montenegro (2017)
• Macedonia (2020)

Equal Status for all member countries- 

The US Senate after signing the treaty from the member countries enables the countries to commit themselves and participate equally in the political activities and military consultations of the organisations. Even though each country is subjected to certain obligations of NATO the flexibility in decision making and expressing their views on civil or political matters is basically concerned with each nation’s interest. 

Conclusion-

NATO has neither completely declared India as one of its members nor has offered membership.  At this point, the issue is to find a potential common ground. Even though India has a good partnership with the other countries that are members of NATO. India has military exchanges with members like the US, Britain and France.

India’s new European Orientation will be influenced if there is a pragmatic engagement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Besides the continent’s search for a new role in the Indo-Pacific. But these treaties or alliances are made purely based on a nation’s interest. Therefore, there is a need for India to think about NATO for strengthening India’s national capabilities and producing stable military establishments.