An American senator wants to include India in a group called NATO Plus : What's happening?
NATO Plus brings together NATO and five other countries (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel and South Korea).
By joining NATO Plus, India would benefit from better intelligence sharing and access to advanced military technology.
The goal is for the US to compete with China in the Indo-Pacific region and protect Taiwan's security.
India had previously rejected joining this group.
NATO was created by the US in 1949 to protect European countries from the Soviet Union.
If any member of NATO is attacked, it is considered an attack on all members, and they agree to defend each other.
This has only been invoked once after the 9/11 attacks when the US invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban government that had supported the terrorist group Al Qaeda.
Russia has expressed discomfort with NATO's continuation.
NATO is an alliance of 31 countries that defend each other.
It's important to note that India doesn't have a defense treaty with the US, but it has a special status as a "Major Defense Partner," which allows for closer defense cooperation.