Washington: United States Vice-President JD Vance, accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance and their three children, arrived in New Delhi on Monday morning. The US Vice President is on a four-day official visit, which includes a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Air Force 2 arrived in New Delhi. The Vice-President and his family will also travel to Agra and Jaipur during the trip. The second couple is accompanied by their children—Ewan (7), Vivek (4), and Mirabel (2).

JD Vance, received a ceremonial Guard of Honour upon his arrival at Palam Airport for his first official visit to India.He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.

Usha Vance’s family originally came to the United States from Andhra Pradesh. It is not immediately known whether she and her family plan to meet any Indian relatives during the visit.

First visit to India

This will be Vice-President Vance’s first visit to India. It takes place during ongoing discussions between the two countries on reaching a trade deal, following President Donald Trump’s imposition of sweeping tariffs on all imports into the United States. Initially set at 26 per cent, the tariff on Indian imports has since been adjusted to the baseline rate of 10 per cent, applicable to all trading partners except China during a 90-day pause in the implementation of the original levies.

Bilateral meeting with PM Modi

The Vice-President is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit. This will mark their second bilateral meeting; the first took place in February in Paris on the sidelines of the AI Summit. After that meeting, the Prime Minister had travelled to Washington DC for his first official meeting with the US President following his return to the White House.

High-level visits continue

Vance is the second senior Trump administration official to visit India during this term. The first was Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, who visited in March. During her visit, she met with the Prime Minister and other officials and addressed the Raisina Dialogue—an annual, government-backed conference that brings together global leaders and experts in national security and foreign policy.

Historic Vice-Presidential visit

Vance is the first American Vice-President to visit India in 13 years. The last Vice-President to do so was Joe Biden, who visited in 2013 while serving under President Barack Obama. Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, who held the position after Biden, did not make official visits to India during their terms.

(IANS inputs)