Amid the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing, Vice President JD Vance plans to meet with the Prime Minister of the world’s most populous country, India’s Narendra Modi.
The VP will visit India for four days next week as part of ongoing bilateral trade deal negotiations. The meetings will kick off on April 21 and focus on economic, trade, and geopolitical ties between Washington and New Delhi.
Vance will be accompanied by his wife, Usha, and their children. Usha’s parents are originally from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where they lived before emigrating to the United States.
According to an April 16 press release from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, in addition to meeting Prime Minister Modi, the VP and his delegation will visit Jaipur and Agra, the latter of which is the location of the Taj Mahal.
News of the visit comes amid the escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China. The latest announcement from the Trump administration stated that some goods from China could be hit with tariffs as high as 245%. Beijing has also been ratcheting up levies, announcing a 125% tariff on U.S. imports.
Before a 90-day pause was announced, India was also set to be subject to new tariffs, albeit much more modest at 27%. Since then, however, the U.S. and India have been working towards a new deal. India already has implemented several levy cuts, with more potentially on the horizon.
Until recently, the U.S. was India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade between the two countries reaching $190 billion.
India’s Prime Minister was also one of the first heads of state to visit the U.S. soon after President Trump was sworn in for his second term. At the time, Modi hailed the “mega partnership” with Washington, with the two heads of state publicly announcing the goal of reaching over $500 billion in bilateral trade between the two nations.