By: Jaiwant Singh Jhala, Research Analyst, GSDN
The National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) is a crucial United States law passed annually by Congress that sets defence policy, priorities and funding levels for the Department of War (DoD) and related agencies, authorizing spending for the upcoming fiscal year, with the latest being the FY 2026 NDAA signed by President Donald Trump in December 2025. It is an annual bill for the US Department of Defence and other agencies involved in national security such as Energy, State, Homeland Security, etc. Traditionally passed every year for more than six decades, the NDAA is far more than a budgeting exercise. It articulates United States’ geopolitical objectives, shapes partnership mechanisms, and serves as a barometer for America’s strategic vision globally.
The FY 2026 NDAA, signed by President Trump on December 19, 2025, builds on this by emphasizing “Peace through Strength”, funding the Department of War and national security programs while prioritizing Indo-Pacific alliances. These acts mandate reports on defence cooperation and integrate partners like India into supply chain security. The NDAA is the primary legislative instrument through which the US Congress directs national defence policy. While the language of the Act covers appropriations for military personnel, equipment procurement, research and development, and readiness, it simultaneously enunciates strategic priorities such as including foreign partnerships, alliance frameworks and emerging technology cooperation. In its FY 2026 iteration, the NDAA not only authorises funding for the Pentagon and related national security agencies but also advances policy language reinforcing US strategic competition with China and Russia. A significant component of this strategic emphasis involves strengthening defence alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region, with a specific emphasis on India.
Implications for India
India, being one of the major emerging global powers and a central player in Indo-Pacific geopolitics, will have extensive implications of this Act such as spanning diplomatic influence, security cooperation, industrial partnerships, and broader balance of power in the region. National Defence Authorization Act deepens engagement with India through the Quad, aiming to counter China’s influence, and supports Taiwan’s defence. The NDAA calls for increased participation of Indian defence forces in bilateral and multilateral exercises with the United States and other partners such as Japan and Australia. This includes deepening cooperation in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) framework. NDAA iteration counters China’s influence by bolstering Quad partnerships like US, India, Japan, Australia. The 2026 version urges expanded joint exercises, maritime security, and defence trade with India to ensure a free Indo-Pacific. Such expanded military interaction improves interoperability between Indian and U.S. forces. This is particularly important for combined operations involving humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, or maritime security missions.
There will be explicit support of India in Indo-Pacific strategy. The NDAA articulates a clear sense of Congress that the United States should broaden engagement with India as a core partner in realising a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” This broad language encompasses not only enhanced military cooperation but a shared vision of regional stability and deterrence against coercive policies by China. With a vast coastline commanding critical sea lanes and an expanding military footprint, India’s geographical position makes it a vital partner in United States’s Indo-Pacific strategy for years to come. Provisions promote interoperability, such as integrating defence industrial bases with India, Japan, Australia, and South Korea for supply chain resilience. This responds to threats from unmanned systems and AI subversion by adversaries. Earlier NDAA amendments, like FY 2020 proposals, mandated US reports on India-US defence ties in the Indian Ocean, reinforcing shared interests. Recent acts extend this to AI-enabled weapons and counter-drone capabilities, inviting Indian collaboration. Formalising collaborative mechanisms is also an essential part of the act.
One of the concrete provisions in NDAA calls for the establishment of a joint consultative mechanism between the United States and India to assess and work through impediments to nuclear cooperation, specifically India’s nuclear liability framework. This issue has long been a stumbling block for expanded civil nuclear cooperation, which American firms have viewed as a deterrent to investment without liability protections aligned to international norms. The Act requires the Secretary of State to submit detailed assessments on this mechanism to Congress, ensuring accountability and sustained political attention. Furthermore, the NDAA directs enhanced roles for strategic dialogues, notably the US–India Strategic Security Dialogue, positioning this as a vehicle for general diplomatic and defence cooperation beyond traditional bilateral channels. The Act encourages expanded defence trade including sales and broader technology collaboration, which could translate into access for India to advanced United States military platforms and systems.
India has already emerged as one of the largest importers of US defence equipment, from Apache helicopters to advanced avionics, but the NDAA’s framework now fosters not just sales but potentially co-development and co-manufacture opportunities, in line with India’s Make in India initiatives. This could extend to cutting-edge domains such as naval platforms, next-generation fighter technologies, and advanced missiles, subject to mutually agreeable terms on technology transfer and industrial collaboration. Beyond military exercises and sales, the FY 2026 NDAA reflects a strategic emphasis on defence industrial base cooperation among Indo-Pacific partners. The Act proposes initiatives to strengthen cooperation across defence manufacturing supply chains, research and development networks, and interoperability frameworks. India, placed among priority partners including Australia, Japan, and South Korea, is expected to participate in a Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience, a long-term initiative to secure supply chains and co-create defence industrial capacity. Given global disruptions in defence supply chains in recent years, such cooperation is critical for ensuring that partner nations are not left vulnerable by unilateral dependencies, whether in hardware components, semiconductor technologies, or logistics infrastructure. For India, this opens potential avenues to integrate its own defence industry, including private sector entities, into multinational value chains.
However, significant policy alignment and capability building will be necessary to transform these prospects into real industrial outcomes. One of the geopolitically consequential provisions of the NDAA is the direction for a joint consultative mechanism to assess India’s civil nuclear liability regime. India’s Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (2010) has historically been a barrier to large-scale U.S. nuclear reactor exports due to concerns about supplier liability and risk allocation. By legislating a mechanism to assess and potentially align India’s liability rules with global norms, the NDAA clears a path for deeper nuclear collaboration, both for clean energy and dual-use technology cooperation. While the NDAA does not create binding alliance commitments like NATO treaties, it actively shapes a collective deterrence architecture in the Indo-Pacific by promoting multilateral integration, especially through the Quad. By explicitly calling for cooperation not just bilaterally but within the Quad format, the Act affirms that India’s role is not peripheral but central to collective strategic planning. Given India’s complex relationships, including military ties with Russia, this balancing act will be crucial as the strategic climate evolves.
Nevertheless, the NDAA signals that US views India as a cornerstone partner in its regional strategy, not simply another client state. India’s defence procurement has historically been diversified, with significant equipment sourced from Russia, Europe, and increasingly the United States. The NDAA’s push for closer integration with US defence industries potentially accelerates this diversification. Yet practical challenges remain, such as technology transfer negotiations, supply chain logistics, and interoperability concerns can slow implementation. Successful collaboration in high-tech domains such as AI-enabled systems, secure communications, and hypersonic weapons, would require robust institutional frameworks between Indian and US stakeholders.
Challenges
India’s foreign policy tradition emphasises strategic autonomy, avoiding formal alliances that could constrain independent decision-making. The NDAA’s provisions, while supportive, risk perceptions that India might be drawn closer into American strategic frameworks, potentially complicating its relations with other major powers like Russia. Navigating these expectations will require diplomatic finesse, leveraging US cooperation where it aligns with India’s interests, while maintaining autonomous policy posture in global issues where convergence is limited. The Act’s encouragement of co-development and industrial cooperation faces practical barriers. Trust, intellectual property concerns, and regulatory mismatches can slow joint ventures, especially in sensitive areas like defence electronics or aerospace. Moreover, ensuring India’s defence industrial base can absorb and scale advanced technologies will be a long-term endeavour necessitating consistent policy support from both governments.
In an era where geopolitical competition is intensifying, driven by China’s assertiveness and shifting global power equations, the NDAA underscores a unique moment in India–US relations, with implications that will reverberate for years to come.
