United States Vice-President JD Vance will begin his four-day visit to India today (April 21). His visit follows External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent trip to Washington for the Trump inauguration and comes weeks after US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s visit to India in March.
Accompanied by his wife Usha Chilukuri and their three children, Vance’s trip is the first by a sitting US Vice-President to India in over a decade. The last such visit was made by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2013.
What’s the agenda of the visit?
Vance will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening at the latter’s official residence. Their discussions are expected to focus on the long-pending bilateral trade agreement and the implementation of key outcomes from the India-US joint statement issued during Modi’s visit to Washington in February.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Jaishankar will also be present for the meeting, along with a five-member high-level US delegation of senior officials from the Pentagon and the State Department.
Factors to watch
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that the visit offers both sides an opportunity “to review the progress in bilateral relations and the implementation of the outcomes of the India-US Joint Statement”. Talks will also cover global and regional security, with a specific emphasis on scheduling the upcoming Quad summit to be hosted by India this fall.
Vance had previously met Modi in Paris on February 11 on the sidelines of an AI summit. Their discussion touched on US participation in India’s civil nuclear sector, a subject expected to resurface in today’s talks, along with the proposed US sale of F-35 fighter jets and boosting energy exports to India.
Following Vance’s visit, Indian and US officials will begin three-day talks in Washington on April 23 to finalise terms for the trade agreement. Discussions will cover around 19 chapters, including tariffs, non-tariff barriers and customs facilitation.