U.S. Vice President JD Vance landed in New Delhi on Monday in what is set to be a four-day trip. Not only did Vance bring his family with him — his wife Usha Vance and three children who will join him for some sightseeing — but he also brought with him Washington, D.C.’s tariff baggage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is inclined to strike a deal and avoid the Trump White House’s “reciprocal” tariffs of 26%. These tariffs are currently paused for all countries except for China.
In their bipartisan talks Monday, Vance and Modi negotiated the terms of a U.S.-India Bilateral Trade Agreement that redefines the trade relationship between the two countries.
“Guided by their respective visions of ‘Amrit Kaal for India’ and ‘Golden Age for America,’ BTA is expected to create new opportunities of growth for workers, farmers, and entrepreneurs in both countries,” the vice president’s office said in a statement.
Why Vance’s trip to India matters
Foreign Policy magazine’s South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman listed out several reasons why Vance’s trip to India is significant in a post on X.
For starters, it’s the first visit by an American vice president in 12 years, he said.
It also puts the vice president at the helm of the negotiating table, advocating on behalf of the Trump White House’s foreign policy ambitions, as Kugelman noted.
Neither former vice presidents Mike Pence nor Kamala Harris ever went to India in their official capacity. Although it’s worth noting Harris, the former Democratic nominee for president, tried to leverage her Indian American identity to court voters on the campaign trail last year. She also crossed paths with Modi at a state dinner hosted by the White House among other occasions.
President Joe Biden was in New Delhi in 2023 for the G20 summit. Modi hasn’t expressed whether he liked working more with Biden or Trump, but he does share a close relationship with Trump that predates their 2019 collaboration, when they hosted the Howdy Modi rally in Texas, which attracted 50,000 people from the Indian diaspora.
In fact, the Indian prime minister was one of a few foreign leaders to visit Trump in the weeks after he took office again. Of course, one of the likely reasons Modi made the trip to Washington, D.C., in the early days of the new administration was to protect India from a trade war by offering concessions.
Vance’s schedule, full of meetings and some sightseeing with family, is a hopeful indicator that the negotiations behind closed doors are progressing.
By forging a closer trade alliance, New Delhi and Washington also counter China, a common adversary. Right now, Beijing is in a tough spot as it navigates a trade war with the U.S.
Chinese imports to the U.S. face a 145%t tariff. To counter this, China levied a 125% tax on U.S. goods. Because China expects the U.S. to undercut its trade by striking deals with other countries, like India, it issued a warning.
“China firmly opposes any party reaching a deal at the expense of Chinese interests … and will resolutely take countermeasures,” the Chinese commerce ministry said on Monday, according to the Economist. Apple is reportedly considering moving their production to India, which already makes 20% of iPhones.
Usha Vance and her ties to India
Modi also hosted Vance, his wife, Usha, and their three children for dinner on Monday.
The second family arrived in New Delhi after an overnight flight from Rome. Vance was one of the last few people to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Easter Sunday hours before Francis passed.
“I just learned of the passing of Pope Francis,” he said in a post on X. “I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill. But I’ll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul.”
Despite the somber circumstances, Vance and his family received a big welcome in New Delhi. When they landed on Monday morning they were greeted by a military band playing the Star-Bangled Banner.
Usha Vance’s Indian-American identity adds “a special cultural dimension” in what is set to be a high stakes visit with trade talks and tariff negotiations, according to Kugelman.
JD and Usha Vance’s two boys sported Kurtas, traditional long sleeve tunics, while their daughter Mirabel wore a dress.
Usha Vance has strong ties to India. Born to Indian immigrant parents, she grew up in a religious household. “My parents are Hindu. That was one of the things that made them good parents, made them good people,” she previously said, as the Deseret News reported.
According to the White House pool report, the Indian government put up large posters bearing Vance’s face with “Welcome, the honorable James David Vance, Vice President of the United States,” all along the motorcade’s route from the airport to one of their stops, Akshardham Temple, a cultural site built in 2005.
The second family is also expected to visit Jaipur, known as the “Pink City” before heading over to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, the world-famous Unesco World Heritage site. Vance’s office shut down rumors that he is attending a wedding in Jaipur.
Trump visited the Taj Mahal with his wife and first lady Melania in 2020. It was his first time visiting the historic landmark, which left him in awe, despite naming his formerly owned Atlantic City hotel after it.