Donald Trump signs USD 692 billion defence budget

US President Donald Trump has signed a 692 billion dollar defence budget, which among other things gives funding to provide legislative authority to implement his South Asia strategy and authorises critical missile capabilities to confront threats posed by North Korea. 

The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) authorises 626 billion dollars of the base budget resources for the



Department of Defence and the national security programs of the Department of Energy, providing an additional 66 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations.

Mr Trump had sought a major role for India in bringing peace in Afghanistan and ruled out a hasty withdrawal of troops from the war-torn nation while announcing his new Afghanistan and South Asia policy in August.