Vance arrives in India, to hold talks with Modi under US tariffs shadow

US Vice President JD Vance began a four-day visit to India on Monday and will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as New Delhi rushes to avoid steep US tariffs with an early trade deal and boost ties with the Trump administration.

Their discussions will cover the first day of Vance's largely personal visit to the country with his family, which includes visiting the Taj Mahal and attending a wedding in the city of Jaipur, people familiar with the matter said. Vance's wife, Usha, is Indian.

Vance landed at New Delhi's Palam airport on Monday following a visit to Rome, where he held a private meeting with Pope Francis on Easter Sunday.

Modi and Vance are expected to review progress made on the bilateral agenda outlined in February when the Indian leader met President Donald Trump in Washington. It includes "fairness" in their two-way trade and growing their defence partnership.

The Indian prime minister was one of the first world leaders to meet Trump after he took office, and Reuters has reported that his government is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of its imports from the US, which were worth a total $41.8 billion in 2024, as part of a trade deal.

However, the US president has continued to call India a "tariff abuser" and "tariff king".

"We are very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters on Thursday, speaking about Vance's engagements in India.

The US is India's largest trading partner and their two-way bilateral trade reached $129 billion in 2024, with a $45.7 billion surplus in favour of India, US government trade data show.

Officials in New Delhi are expecting to clinch a trade deal with the US within the 90-day pause on tariff hikes announced by Trump on April 9 for major trading partners, including Delhi.

Vance's tour in India is also seen as laying the ground for Trump's visit to the country later in the year for the summit of leaders of the Quad grouping that includes India, Australia, Japan and the US.

Harsh Pant, foreign policy head at the Observer Research Foundation think tank in Delhi, said the timing of Vance's visit was critical in the backdrop of trade talks.

"The fact that the US-China tensions are ramping up, and Vance in particular seems to have taken a very high profile role in American diplomacy, also means that the visit assumes an added layer of significance," he said.

Vance is accompanied by US administration officials, but the two sides are unlikely to sign any deals during the visit, people familiar with the matter said.

India and the US expect to ink a framework for defence partnership this year, while New Delhi also plans to procure and co-produce arms including Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and Stryker infantry combat vehicles, according to a joint statement issued after the February meeting.

Discussions on such procurements would be taken forward during US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth's expected visit to India in the next couple of months, people familiar with the matter said.