The USofA: V-P JD Vance and his family land in India on a four-day visit
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: In the backdrop of the ongoing global tariff war, US Vice-President JD Vance, along with his India-born wife Usha and their children, and a high-level delegation, began a four-day visit to India on Monday.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav greeted the Vance family at the airport in New Delhi.
The delegation will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, among others, as New Delhi is trying to avoid steep US tariffs with an early trade deal and boost ties with the Trump administration.
Their discussions will cover the first day of Vance’s largely personal visit to the country with his family, which includes visiting the Taj Mahal and attending a wedding in the city of Jaipur, the media reported.
Vance’s wife, Usha, is the daughter of Indian immigrants from Andhra Pradesh. The family will also pay a visit to her native place for the first time.
PM Modi, who will host a dinner on Monday in the US Vice-President’s honor, and Vance are expected to review progress made on the bilateral agenda outlined in February when the Indian leader met President Donald Trump in Washington. It includes “fairness” in their two-way trade and growing their defence partnership.
PM Modi was among the first world leaders to meet President Trump after he took office on January 20. India is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of its imports from the US, worth a total USD 41.8 billion in 2024, as part of a trade deal, the reports said.
However, the US President, while praising PM Modi, has continued to call India a “tariff abuser” and “tariff king.”
“We are very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters on Thursday last week, speaking about Vice-President Vance’s engagements in India.
The US is India’s largest trading partner and their two-way bilateral trade reached USD 129 billion in 2024, with a USD 45.7 billion surplus in favour of India, US government trade data show. India is trying to boost bilateral trade to the tune of USD 500 billion by 2030.
New Delhi is expecting to clinch a trade deal with the US within the 90-day pause on tariff hikes announced by President Trump on April 9 for major trading partners, including India.
Vice-President Vance’s India visit is also seen as laying the ground for President Trump’s likely visit to the country later this year for the summit of leaders of the Quad grouping that includes India, Australia, Japan and the US.
He is accompanied by US administration officials, but the two sides are unlikely to sign any deals during the visit.
India and the US expect to ink a framework for defence partnership this year, while New Delhi also plans to procure and co-produce arms including Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and Stryker infantry combat vehicles, according to a joint statement issued after PM Modi’s February meeting with President Trump.
Discussions on such procurements would be taken forward during U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s expected visit to India in the next couple of months.
