JD Vance to visit India amid tariff tensions: Key meetings and agenda

US Vice President JD Vance will pay an official visit to India from Monday i.e. April 21 to April 24. He will be accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance, their children, and senior members of the US administration.

This will be Vance's first visit to India. He will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 21, 2025. As per the government, he will be received at the Air Force Station, Palam, at 10:00 a.m., following which a formal meeting with PM Modi will be held at 6:30 p.m. at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.

The U.S. Vice President and his delegation will have other engagements in Delhi, and are also scheduled to visit Jaipur and Agra before departing for Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2025.

"The visit will provide an opportunity for both sides to review the progress in bilateral relations and the implementation of the outcomes of the India-U.S. Joint Statement issued on February 13, 2025, during the visit of the Prime Minister to the U.S. The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest," a recent statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said.

Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a presser that during Vance's India visit, he and PM Modi will discuss all "relevant" issues, including bilateral ties.

In a release last week, the White House Office of the Vice President also stated: "Vice President JD Vance and the Second Family will travel to Italy and India from April 18 to April 24. The Vice President will discuss shared economic and geopolitical priorities with leaders in each country."

Like many other countries, India, too, has concerns regarding the recent tariffs proposed by the Trump administration. On April 9, the day when his broad stroke tariff hike across trading partners worldwide was expected to kick in, Trump pressed a pause button. The White House's latest announcement said the proposed increase in tariffs on all products from around 90 countries, excluding China, will not be applicable for 90 days.

In his rationale behind pausing the tariff hikes, Trump said a majority of these countries – more than 75 of them – have initiated talks with ‘Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to trade, trade barriers, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-monetary tariffs’. He said these countries (which include India) have not retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States after he announced the tariff measures against them. All these countries will now be subjected to a ‘base’ reciprocal tariff of 10% during this period.