The US House of Representatives passed an updated version of the USD 768 billion defence spending bill for 2022, sending it to the Senate for consideration.
The House approved the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) en bloc with other bills with a 363-70 vote on Tuesday night.
The budget earmarks USD 7.1 billion for operations in the Indo-Pacific region, with initiatives to address challenges from China such as risks to supply chains for critical defence systems.
The defence spending bill also includes USD 4 billion for the European Deterrence Initiative and USD 300 million in security aid for Ukraine.
The legislation would also require biennial reporting on alleged Russian influence operations and campaigns targeting American military alliances.
The NDAA does not include sanctions against Russian sovereign debt or sanctions against Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline despite attempts by lawmakers to add them to the legislation amid rising tensions with Moscow over the buildup of forces near Ukraine. (ANI/Sputnik)
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor