India, Feb. 17 -- The US House of Representatives has passed the Strengthening the Quad Act, with an overwhelming majority, on Thursday. The legislation seeks an intensification of cooperation between India, US, Japan and Australia in the Indo-Pacific, calls for the formation of a Quad Intra-Parliamentary Working Group, and asks the US secretary of state to submit, within 180 days, a status update on Quad's activities and a strategy for bolstering cooperation to the Congress. To be sure, the passage of the legislation is one step in a process that requires the Senate to pass the Act and the president to sign it before it becomes law.P14...