NEW DELHI: United States Vice President JD Vance began a four-day visit to India on Monday ( Apr 21 ) as New Delhi looks to seal an early trade deal and stave off punishing US tariffs.
Vance’s visit comes two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held conversations with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
A red floor embrace with an honour guard and performers of folk dancing greeted Vance after he stepped out into the sweltering light of New Delhi, where he is set to meet with Modi.
Vance’s tour even includes a trip to Agra, house to the Taj Mahal, the white marble monument commissioned by a Mughal prince.
The US vice president is accompanied by his family, including his partner Usha, who is the child of Indian immigrants, with New Delhi’s commentators dubbing the check-out” semi-private”.
Modi, 74, and Vance, 40, are expected to “review the advancement in diplomatic relations” and even “exchange views on regional and global developments of common interest”, India’s international department said last year.
India and the US are negotiating the second round of a business package, which New Delhi hopes to secure within the 90-day wait on tariffs announced by Trump earlier this month.
” We are quite good that the visit may give a further boost to our diplomatic relationships,” India’s foreign department spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told investigators last year.
Vance was welcomed at the airports by Ashwini Vaishnaw, a senior member of Modi’s state.