India is very delighted to host US Vice President JD Vance, his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, and their three children. Mr Vance’s India tour takes place in a crucial phase when New Delhi is trying to negotiate a trade deal with Washington, to ensure Donald Trump doesn’t impose high tariffs on Indian imports.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) claimed that Mr Vance’s India tour will allow both sides to review the progress in bilateral relations and implementation of the outcomes of the February 13th India-US Joint Statement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US visit.
The MEA also claimed that the “two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest.”
However, while Mr Modi and his government have warmly welcomed the US vice president and his family, with some photo ops in the prime minister’s office with the children, the big question that looms over the visit is its intended purpose.
Pleased to welcome US @VP @JDVance and his family in New Delhi. We reviewed the fast-paced progress following my visit to the US and meeting with President Trump. We are committed to mutually beneficial cooperation, including in trade, technology, defence, energy and… pic.twitter.com/LRNmodIZLB
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 21, 2025
What did Modi and Vance discuss?
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Mr Modi and Mr Vance discussed issues of bilateral importance, while Indian media reports say they discussed India-US bilateral ties, collaboration against China in the “Indo-Pacific war theatre” and the developments in Bangladesh.
“They welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial India-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement focused on the welfare of the people of the two countries. Likewise, they noted continued efforts towards enhancing cooperation in energy, defence, strategic technologies and other areas, (sic)” the PMO said in a statement.
“The two leaders also exchanged views on various regional and global issues of mutual interest, and called for dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward,” the statement added.
Mr Modi also said that he is waiting for Mr Trump’s visit later this year.
However, the length of the meeting between Mr Modi and the US vice president indicates that nothing of a very serious nature was discussed between them.
Rather than behaving as an American partner, New Delhi behaved as a satellite state and attempted to appease Mr Vance with its report card.
Indian mainstream media reports have shown that the two sides iterated cliches on bilateral ties, and nothing significant was announced by Mr Vance.
This raises questions regarding the real reason behind Mr Vance’s India tour with his family.
What’s the real reason behind Mr Vance’s India visit?
According to the Indian media, Mr Vance’s India tour consists of a meeting with Mr Modi on April 21st. A visit to Jaipur on April 22nd and an Agra tour on April 23rd before his return on April 24th.
On Monday, after meeting Mr Modi with their children, the Vance couple went to Janpath in central New Delhi for shopping for handicraft products.
On Tuesday, April 22nd, the Vance family reached Jaipur, where they stayed in the historic Rambagh Palace and visited Amer Fort, Jantar Mantar, City Palace, and Hawa Mahal.
On Wednesday, April 23rd, during their Agra tour, the family has visited the Taj Mahal.
Married to an Indian-origin American, Mr Vance’s India tour seems like a family holiday, layered with some diplomatic rhetoric and stunts.
The itinerary shows that Mr Vance’s India tour has lesser diplomatic engagements and government business, rather it appears as a typical tour of north Indian tourist destinations by a westerner and his Indian wife.
While it may give a lot of opportunity to the MEA to receive supportive phrases from the US vice president, Mr Modi’s Saudi Arabia tour during the ongoing visit shows that New Delhi expects no diplomatic gains from Mr Vance’s family holiday tour.
Though Mr Vance has condemned the Islamist terrorist attack on Indian tourists in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam, there were no other diplomatic engagements between him and the Indian side.
Usha and I extend our condolences to the victims of the devastating terrorist attack in Pahalgam, India. Over the past few days, we have been overcome with the beauty of this country and its people. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as they mourn this horrific attack. https://t.co/cUAyMXje5A
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 22, 2025
However, the big question is whether it’s worthwhile at all to appease the US vice president when his India tour appears to have no significance in diplomatic terms and is largely a family holiday?
What’s more important for Mr Modi’s government is to find a respectable solution to Mr Trump’s tariff threats and diversify its exports by finding newer markets in the global south, breaking the tradition of relying upon the US-led collective West for trading.
