US Vice President JD Vance arrived in India for an important meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to CNBC, Vance on Monday, April 21, 2025, landed in Delhi to begin his four-day visit to India for crucial talks with Modi on a bilateral trade deal as the US tariff war with China escalates.
The vice president was joined by his wife, Usha Vance, who is the first Asian American and first Hindu American second lady, and their three children, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel. They were greeted at the airport by railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The White House said that the visit will be focused on “shared economic and geopolitical priorities”, while India described that the visit would “provide an opportunity for both sides to review the progress in bilateral relations.”
Significance of Vance's visit after US tariffs on India
Despite good relations with Modi, US President Donald Trump hit India with 26% tariffs earlier in April 2025 but later announced a 90-day pause.
India wants to strike a trading deal with the US within the time frame of these 90 days.
Harsh Pant, foreign policy head at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in Delhi, noted, “The fact that the U.S.-China tensions are ramping up, and Vance in particular seems to have taken a very high-profile role in American diplomacy, also means that the visit assumes an added layer of significance.”
As per US government trade data, India is the largest trading partner of the US, and their two-way bilateral trade reached $129 billion in 2024, with a $45.7 billion surplus in favour of New Delhi.
