No other details of Mr. Vance’s programme were released, indicating much of Monday would be taken up by private engagements, including sightseeing, a visit to a temple, and shopping in Delhi, as well as meetings with U.S. Embassy officials
In the first such visit by an American Vice President to India in 12 years, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance will arrive in Delhi on Monday (April 21, 2025) with his family on a “rare” four-day trip by an American V-P that will take them to Agra and Jaipur as well.
Mr. Vance is due to land in Delhi on Monday (April 21, 2025) morning, along with his wife Usha Chilukuri and their three children, and a delegation of U.S. government officials, including the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for South and Central Asia, Ricky Gill. Mr. Vance will be given an official guard of honour at the airport, and is due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to be accompanied by members of his Cabinet at a dinner at his residence in the evening.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar may call on Mr. Vance during the day as well, sources said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declined to comment on whether issues, including U.S. tariffs; discussions for a Bilateral Trade Agreement that will restart in Washington this week; dates for the Quad Summit which U.S. President Donald Trump would attend; growing concerns over the Trump administration’s crackdown on student visas; and deportations of Indians are on the agenda for talks specifically, stressing that “all relevant issues” would be spoken about when Mr. Modi met Mr. Vance.
However, neither the MEA nor the U.S. Embassy in Delhi released any other details of Mr. Vance’s programme, indicating much of Monday (April 21, 2025) would be taken up by private engagements, including sightseeing, a visit to a temple, and shopping in Delhi, as well as meetings with U.S. Embassy officials.
Mr. Trump has so far not named a nominee as his Ambassador to India, and the role is being filled by career diplomat and Deputy Chief of Mission Jorgan Andrews. There is no scheduled call-on by Mr. Vance on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar either, sources said, given the differences in the structures of the U.S. and Indian government systems.
Officials hope that any substantive announcements would be made after the meeting with Mr. Modi, including the formal launch of the TRUST (Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) partnership, renamed from the earlier Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) with the previous Biden administration.
On Tuesday (April 22, 2025), Mr. Vance will deliver an address at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, where he is likely to make a policy statement on India-U.S. ties. The speech will be eyed with considerable interest, given Mr. Vance’s tough-talking during his previous two visits abroad, including his visit to the Munich Security Conference, where he admonished European countries on the Ukraine issue, and his visit to Greenland, where he stressed the U.S.’s claims to the region that’s currently a part of Denmark.
Former Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Navtej Sarna said that given Mr. Vance’s “India connection” through his wife Usha Chilukuri, whose family hails from Andhra Pradesh, and his “more visible than usual role in the Trump administration”, the U.S. Vice President’s visit could prove useful for ties. The last U.S. Vice President to visit was Joe Biden in 2013, who was later President of the United States (2021-2025), and who travelled to Mumbai and Delhi with his wife Jill Biden, but otherwise, U.S. Vice-Presidential visits to India have been rare.
“[U.S.] Vice Presidential visits are rare in the limited time available, given the nature of the V-P post and [its] responsibilities. In this case, India hopes to host both President and V-P, and that’s all to the good,” Mr. Sarna told The Hindu. “Any inputs that are shared with the Vice President will be an important input into the larger relationship,” he added, when asked whether India would raise trade and visa issues during the talks.
The Bidens’ visit in 2013 was extremely packed and seen as important for building India-U.S. relations, and the couple made a number of public appearances. Speaking at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mr. Biden had remarked on a letter he once received that said that his “great, great, great, great, great grandfather” had worked in the East India Company in India.
Over the past decade, neither of the then U.S. Vice Presidents, Mike Pence or Kamala Harris, made the trip, despite Ms. Harris’s Indian origins. Mr. Pence, a former Governor from the U.S. State of Indiana had nearly travelled to India after Mr. Modi had invited him, joking in Hindi that the Indian PM had said, “India ana”. However, Mr. Pence didn’t eventually make the trip.
Prior to Mr. Biden, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and then Vice President George Bush senior had visited Delhi, but for ceremonial visits to attend the funerals of former Indian Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Indira Gandhi in 1984, respectively. However, almost none besides then Vice President Richard Nixon in 1953 made substantial visits to India to discuss policy matters.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance to arrive on four-day visit; all eyes on dinner with PM Modi, speech in Jaipur
No other details of Mr. Vance’s programme were released, indicating much of Monday would be taken up by private engagements, including sightseeing, a visit to a temple, and shopping in Delhi, as well as meetings with U.S. Embassy officials
In the first such visit by an American Vice President to India in 12 years, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance will arrive in Delhi on Monday (April 21, 2025) with his family on a “rare” four-day trip by an American V-P that will take them to Agra and Jaipur as well.
Mr. Vance is due to land in Delhi on Monday (April 21, 2025) morning, along with his wife Usha Chilukuri and their three children, and a delegation of U.S. government officials, including the U.S. National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for South and Central Asia, Ricky Gill. Mr. Vance will be given an official guard of honour at the airport, and is due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is expected to be accompanied by members of his Cabinet at a dinner at his residence in the evening.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar may call on Mr. Vance during the day as well, sources said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) declined to comment on whether issues, including U.S. tariffs; discussions for a Bilateral Trade Agreement that will restart in Washington this week; dates for the Quad Summit which U.S. President Donald Trump would attend; growing concerns over the Trump administration’s crackdown on student visas; and deportations of Indians are on the agenda for talks specifically, stressing that “all relevant issues” would be spoken about when Mr. Modi met Mr. Vance.
However, neither the MEA nor the U.S. Embassy in Delhi released any other details of Mr. Vance’s programme, indicating much of Monday (April 21, 2025) would be taken up by private engagements, including sightseeing, a visit to a temple, and shopping in Delhi, as well as meetings with U.S. Embassy officials.
Mr. Trump has so far not named a nominee as his Ambassador to India, and the role is being filled by career diplomat and Deputy Chief of Mission Jorgan Andrews. There is no scheduled call-on by Mr. Vance on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar either, sources said, given the differences in the structures of the U.S. and Indian government systems.
Officials hope that any substantive announcements would be made after the meeting with Mr. Modi, including the formal launch of the TRUST (Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) partnership, renamed from the earlier Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) with the previous Biden administration.
On Tuesday (April 22, 2025), Mr. Vance will deliver an address at the Rajasthan International Centre in Jaipur, where he is likely to make a policy statement on India-U.S. ties. The speech will be eyed with considerable interest, given Mr. Vance’s tough-talking during his previous two visits abroad, including his visit to the Munich Security Conference, where he admonished European countries on the Ukraine issue, and his visit to Greenland, where he stressed the U.S.’s claims to the region that’s currently a part of Denmark.
Former Indian Ambassador to the U.S. Navtej Sarna said that given Mr. Vance’s “India connection” through his wife Usha Chilukuri, whose family hails from Andhra Pradesh, and his “more visible than usual role in the Trump administration”, the U.S. Vice President’s visit could prove useful for ties. The last U.S. Vice President to visit was Joe Biden in 2013, who was later President of the United States (2021-2025), and who travelled to Mumbai and Delhi with his wife Jill Biden, but otherwise, U.S. Vice-Presidential visits to India have been rare.
“[U.S.] Vice Presidential visits are rare in the limited time available, given the nature of the V-P post and [its] responsibilities. In this case, India hopes to host both President and V-P, and that’s all to the good,” Mr. Sarna told The Hindu. “Any inputs that are shared with the Vice President will be an important input into the larger relationship,” he added, when asked whether India would raise trade and visa issues during the talks.
The Bidens’ visit in 2013 was extremely packed and seen as important for building India-U.S. relations, and the couple made a number of public appearances. Speaking at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Mr. Biden had remarked on a letter he once received that said that his “great, great, great, great, great grandfather” had worked in the East India Company in India.
Over the past decade, neither of the then U.S. Vice Presidents, Mike Pence or Kamala Harris, made the trip, despite Ms. Harris’s Indian origins. Mr. Pence, a former Governor from the U.S. State of Indiana had nearly travelled to India after Mr. Modi had invited him, joking in Hindi that the Indian PM had said, “India ana”. However, Mr. Pence didn’t eventually make the trip.
Prior to Mr. Biden, U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and then Vice President George Bush senior had visited Delhi, but for ceremonial visits to attend the funerals of former Indian Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Indira Gandhi in 1984, respectively. However, almost none besides then Vice President Richard Nixon in 1953 made substantial visits to India to discuss policy matters.
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