US Committee mulling to expand 'Five Eyes' to include India, Japan, South Korea: Report

United States House Armed Services Committee has asked the director of national intelligence (DNI) and the secretary of defence to weigh both the “benefits” and “risks” of expanding the Five Eyes (FVEY) network to include India, Japan, Germany and South Korea. The Five Eyes is an intelligence-sharing alliance that presently constitutes the US, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a member of the Armed Services Committee told US news website Defence One on Tuesday that “Five Eyes intelligence-sharing pact is a World War II relic that needs updating to better keep tabs on China.” Reportedly, he has also introduced an amendment in the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the year 2022 to formalise the House committee’s proposal. 

Sputnik has stated that NDAA is meant to authorise the defence spending by the American government and NDAA 2022 is the first during the presidency of Joe Biden. It has proposed a budget outlay of at least $715 billion as defence spending for the current fiscal year. Reportedly, the proposal by the House committee has said, “The committee acknowledges that the threat landscape has vastly changed since the inception of the Five Eyes arrangement, with primary threats now emanating from China and Russia.”

“The committee believes that, in confronting great power competition, the Five Eye countries must work closer together, as well as expand the circle of trust to other like-minded democracies", it added.

India’s addition is a 'natural extension'

Sputnik quoted Seshadri Vasan, an Indian Navy veteran and presently the director of the Chennai Centre for China Studies (C3S) as saying that India in ‘Five Eyes’ reflects America’s “increasing reliance” on New Delhi for strategic cooperation. According to him, this cooperation includes intelligence gathering, surveillance, and maritime domain awareness. The ex-Navy veteran reportedly said, “The US clearly wants India to play the role of a security facilitator in the (Asia-Pacific) region.” He also stated that if India does become a part of the intelligence-sharing network, it will be a “natural extension” of the enhanced defence cooperation between the US and India, especially in recent years. "India, Australia, the US, and Japan are already cooperating under the Quad framework", noted Vasan, as per the report.

Image: AP