JD Vance’s India Visit Begins with Geostrategic Spotlight

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JD Vance Visits Akshardham to Assert Personal Bond with India

By TRH News Desk

New Delhi, April 21, 2025: US Vice President JD Vance arrived in New Delhi on Monday for his four-day visit to India. His first venture in New Delhi to the Akshardham Temple set the template for his India visit.

Coming close on the heels of Tulsi Gabbard’s India visit, Vance will hold a bilateral with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening. Vance is accompanied by US Second Lady Usha Vance and their three children.

Vance is making the signal clear by choosing India for his second foreign visit after becoming Vice President of the US. Unlike his other encounters with foreign heads of offices and also travels, Vance is likely to press all the positive notes on his India visit.

Vance’s list of meetings includes National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and others. He will also visit Jaipur and Agra.

Vance is among US President Donald Trump’s team with pro-Hindu leanings. Besides Gabbard, Kash Patel is also a prominent Trump man leading the FBI. Vance visit has been preceded by the US extraditing Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a mastermind in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

The Washington Post in a curtain raiser piece summed up the positive sentiments in New Delhi for the Vance visit. “The mood in New Delhi has been markedly optimistic. On the larger ideological plan, we are closer than we were with the previous administration,” former Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla told The Washington Post.

Aparna Pande of the Hudson Institute told Outlook India that “India seeks to woo Vance as he’s the rising star within the ‘MAGA (Make America Great Again)’ tent. “While the trip has personal elements, it also serves to deepen contacts within Trump’s inner circle, which is crucial for India to ensure its interests are prioritized,” Pande told Outlook India.

Incidentally, Modi spoke to tech billionaire Elon Musk last week. Musk had called on Modi during his last visit to Washington. Within the Modi-led BJP and its associates, there are several voices which claim that the Trump administration will bring windfall gains for India in the realm of economy and geostrategy.

The US-China trade war is also setting the backdrop to Vance’s India visit. Chinese President Xi Jinping is showing to urgency to reach out to Trump. With the US-China trade war going out of control for Trump, experts claim that India becomes more important for Washington to fill the supply gaps of key strategic items.

On talking points on the agenda for Vance will be regional security with Bangladesh at the centre stage. Trump during Modi’s Oval Office visit had reiterated the old US policy of entrusting India with responsibility for ensuring stability in South Asia barring Pakistan.

Afghanistan may also figure in discussions during Vance’s visit to India. Both the nations have established deep contacts with the Taliban regime in Kabul.

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