I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8378 

To strengthen the role of the United States with respect to the Indian 

Ocean region, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 14, 2024 

Mr. CASTRO of Texas (for himself and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To strengthen the role of the United States with respect 

to the Indian Ocean region, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Indian Ocean Region 

5 Strategic Review Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) The United States has vitally important po9 litical, economic, and security interests in the Indian 

10 Ocean region, and the United States is uniquely poVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:10 Jun 24, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8378.IH H8378

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1 sitioned to capitalize on opportunities that advance 

2 such interests. 

3 (2) The United States needs to engage and co4 operate with partners in the Indo-Pacific region, in5 cluding India, Japan, Australia, and island countries 

6 located within such region, to bolster regional gov7 ernance, to increase sustainable economic 

8 connectivity and development, and to strengthen co9 operation on security challenges such as threats to 

10 freedom of navigation and environmental disasters. 

11 (3) The United States must work to better un12 derstand the environmental, economic, security, and 

13 political issues faced by the Governments of Indian 

14 Ocean region countries. 

15 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

16 It is the policy of the United States with respect to 

17 the Indian Ocean region, as part of the broader Indo-Pa18 cific engagement strategy of the United States, to 

19 strengthen engagement with Indian Ocean region coun20 tries (including with the governments, civil society, aca21 demia, and private sectors of such countries) and to en22 hance meaningful diplomatic, security, and economic rela23 tions with allies and partners of the United States in the 

24 Indian Ocean region, by the following: 


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1 (1) Promoting cohesive political ties between 

2 the United States and Indian Ocean region countries 

3 through active participation in regional organiza4 tions and strengthening bilateral diplomatic relations 

5 with such allies and partners. 

6 (2) Continuing to build the bilateral security re7 lationship between the United States and India, for 

8 the purpose of regularizing security cooperation by 

9 building upon foundational agreements concerning 

10 intelligence sharing, military communication, and 

11 naval cooperation. 

12 (3) Engaging with India to better understand 

13 and operationalize economic and political opportuni14 ties across the Indian Ocean region. 

15 (4) Enhancing economic connectivity and com16 mercial exchange between the United States and In17 dian Ocean region countries. 

18 (5) Ensuring the freedom of navigation by pro19 tecting trade routes and shipping lanes within the 

20 Indian Ocean region for all countries to enjoy 

21 unimpeded access in a manner consistent with inter22 national law. 

23 (6) Cooperating with the governments of Indian 

24 Ocean region countries on security challenges, in25 cluding issues relating to piracy and illegal fishing. 


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1 (7) Supporting the ability of such governments, 

2 and of nongovernmental organizations within the In3 dian Ocean region, to respond to environmental dis4 asters and work to mitigate potential future disas5 ters with resilient infrastructure. 

6 (8) Facilitating cooperation between the United 

7 States and allies and partners of the United States 

8 in the Indian Ocean region to build capacity in mari9 time security and maritime domain awareness. 

10 (9) Promoting cooperation with United States 

11 allies in the Indo-Pacific region (including Japan 

12 and Australia), major defense partners (including 

13 India), and NATO allies (including the United King14 dom and France), to support a rules-based order in 

15 such region. 

16 (10) Understanding resources and costs re17 quired for the United States to effectively engage 

18 diplomatically and economically in the Indian Ocean 

19 region. 

20 SEC. 4. STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN RELATING 

21 TO INDIAN OCEAN REGION. 

22 (a) STRATEGY.—Not later than 180 days after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

24 in coordination with the Secretary of Defense and the Ad25 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 


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1 Development, shall submit to the appropriate congres2 sional committees a multi-year strategy and implementa3 tion plan for United States engagements and posture to 

4 support the interests of the United States with respect to 

5 the Indian Ocean region. 

6 (b) MATTERS.—The strategy under subsection (a) 

7 shall include the following: 

8 (1) An identification of the political, economic, 

9 and security goals and opportunities of the United 

10 States in the Indian Ocean region. 

11 (2) An explanation of the political, economic, 

12 and security goals of Indian Ocean region countries 

13 and a detailed description of areas with respect to 

14 which such interests align with the goals of the 

15 United States. 

16 (3) A list that details the economic and political 

17 efforts of the People’s Republic of China with re18 spect to the Indian Ocean region, particularly with 

19 respect to the engagement by the People’s Republic 

20 of China with each country located within the Indian 

21 Ocean region. 

22 (4) A description and analysis of challenges, in23 cluding countries and specific projects, to the en24 gagement with Indian Ocean region countries as a 

25 result of— 


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1 (A) disparate policy goals across the de2 partments and agencies of the United States 

3 Government; and 

4 (B) disparate definitions of the term ‘‘In5 dian Ocean region’’ across the Department of 

6 State, Department of Defense, and United 

7 States Agency for International Development. 

8 (5) A list that details efforts to improve co9 operation between the United States and Australia, 

10 India, and Japan (commonly referred to as the 

11 ‘‘Quadrilateral Dialogue’’ or ‘‘Quad’’ and referred to 

12 as such in this section), through coordination be13 tween members of the Quad with respect to diplo14 macy and development priorities, joint military exer15 cises and operations, and other activities that pro16 mote and balance the political, economic, and secu17 rity interests of the United States with respect to 

18 Indian Ocean region countries. 

19 (6) An overview of efforts to support the eco20 nomic connectivity and development of island coun21 tries located within the Indian Ocean region, includ22 ing through the United States-India-Japan Tri23 lateral Infrastructure Working Group, the Asia-Afri24 ca Growth Corridor, and other efforts to expand and 

25 enhance connectivity across the Indo-Pacific region 


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1 (including with the countries of Southeast Asia) that 

2 maintain high standards of investment and support 

3 for civil society and people-to-people connectivity. 

4 (7) A description of how the United States may 

5 engage with regional intergovernmental organiza6 tions and multilateral organizations, including the 

7 Indian Ocean Rim Association and the United Na8 tions, to promote the political, economic, and secu9 rity goals of the United States in the Indian Ocean 

10 region. 

11 (8) A description of how the United States may 

12 facilitate cooperation between Indian Ocean region 

13 countries (including with the governments, civil soci14 ety, academia, and private sectors of such countries) 

15 and Taiwan, through Taiwan’s New Southbound 

16 Policy. 

17 (9) A review of the diplomatic posture of the 

18 United States in the Indian Ocean region, includ19 ing— 

20 (A) an assessment of the diplomatic en21 gagement by the United States with Indian 

22 Ocean region countries without a permanent 

23 United States embassy or diplomatic mission; 


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1 (B) an assessment of means by which to 

2 improve cooperation by the United States with 

3 the Maldives, the Seychelles, and Comoros; 

4 (C) an assessment of the sufficiency of 

5 United States diplomatic personnel and facili6 ties available in the Indian Ocean region to 

7 achieve the policy referred to in section 3; 

8 (D) a description of any fiscal or personnel 

9 resources required to fill identified gaps with 

10 respect to such diplomatic posture; and 

11 (E) a description of the bilateral and mul12 tilateral diplomatic goals of the Department of 

13 State that the Secretary of State deems nec14 essary to achieve the policy referred to in sec15 tion 3. 

16 (10) A review of the agreements entered into 

17 between the United States and Indian Ocean region 

18 countries for the purpose of facilitating the military 

19 operations of the United States pursuant to bilateral 

20 and multilateral agreements and a description of any 

21 efforts to expand the naval and coast guard coopera22 tion of the United States with India and other In23 dian Ocean region countries through the negotiation 

24 of additional agreements. 


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1 (11) A strategy for the provision of United 

2 States security assistance to the governments of In3 dian Ocean region countries, including a summary of 

4 the security priorities, objectives, and actions of the 

5 prospective recipient country and a description of 

6 the means by which the United States may support 

7 such security priorities, objectives, and actions while 

8 promoting the political, economic, and security goals 

9 of the United States in the Indian Ocean region. 

10 (12) A security assistance assessment of the ca11 pabilities, training, and funding needed for countries 

12 in the region to push back against shared challenges 

13 in the region. 

14 (13) A plan to expand the foreign assistance 

15 presence of the United States with respect to the 

16 governments of island countries located within the 

17 Indian Ocean region, including a description of any 

18 resources or policy tools required to expand the abil19 ity of the United States to offer high-quality infra20 structure resiliency projects to such countries. 

21 (c) INCLUSION.—The strategy under subsection (a) 

22 may be submitted to the appropriate congressional com23 mittees as a part of any other strategy relating to the 

24 Indo-Pacific region. 


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1 (d) REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 

2 one year after the date on which the Secretary of State 

3 submits the strategy under subsection (a), and one year 

4 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the ap5 propriate congressional committees a report on progress 

6 made toward implementing the strategy. 

7 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION TO UNITED STATES-CHINA ECO8 NOMIC AND SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION. 

9 (a) MODIFICATION.—Section 1238(c)(2)(E) of the 

10 Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for 

11 Fiscal Year 2001 (22 U.S.C. 7002(c)(2)(E)) is amend12 ed— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘, including in the Indian 

14 Ocean region’’ after ‘‘deployments of the People’s 

15 Republic of China military’’; and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following new sen17 tence: ‘‘In this subparagraph, the term ‘Indian 

18 Ocean region’ means the Indian Ocean, including 

19 the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and the lit20 toral areas surrounding the Indian Ocean.’’. 

21 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendments made by sub22 section (a) shall apply with respect to each report under 

23 section 1238 of the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Au24 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 required to be sub25 mitted on or after the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com5 mittees’’ means— 

6 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

7 the Committee on Armed Services of the House 

8 of Representatives; and 

9 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

10 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

11 Senate. 

12 (2) INDIAN OCEAN REGION.—The term ‘‘Indian 

13 Ocean region’’ means the Indian Ocean, including 

14 the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and the lit15 toral areas surrounding the Indian Ocean. 

16 (3) INDIAN OCEAN REGION COUNTRY.—The 

17 term ‘‘Indian Ocean region country’’ means any 

18 country located within or surrounding the Indian 

19 Ocean region. 

Æ 


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