New Delhi, April 5 -- NATO's "partner" concept is shorn of the Article 5 guarantee of collective defence against armed attack but provides defence dialogue, military-to-military planning, joint exercises, interoperability and predictability

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) - the first peacetime military alliance the United States entered into outside of the Western Hemisphere - was formed in 1949 after the World War-II by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations for deterring Soviet expansionism. It forestalled the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence in Europe, and encouraged European political integration.The alliance had 12 founding members: Belgium, C...