US vice-president to meet Modi in Delhi amid tariff tensions

US Vice-President JD Vance has arrived in the Indian capital, Delhi, where he is due to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid global trade tensions sparked by Washington’s tariff policies.

The talks are likely to focus on fast tracking a much-awaited bilateral trade deal between the two countries.

Vance is also expected to go on a sightseeing tour of Agra and Jaipur with his family.

His visit comes as countries across the world rush to negotiate trade deals before US President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs ends on 9 July.

“The two sides will also exchange views on regional and global developments of mutual interest,” India’s foreign ministry said ahead of Vance’s visit.

The vice-president is accompanied by his children and wife Usha Vance whose parents migrated to the US from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

After his arrival in Delhi on Monday morning, Vance visited the Akshardham temple complex in the city.

He is due to meet the Indian prime minister for formal talks later in the day and Modi is to host Vance for dinner in the evening.

The visit comes amid escalating trade tensions between Washington and several countries after Trump announced steep reciprocal tariffs on them.

Trump, who has repeatedly called Delhi a tariff abuser, had announced a tariff of 27% on India before he temporarily paused it on 9 April.

India has already slashed tariffs on some US goods, with further cuts expected as the balance of trade is still stacked heavily in favour of Delhi, which enjoys a $45bn trade surplus.

India’s average tariffs of around 12% are also significantly higher than the US’s 2%.

Until recently, the US was India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn (£144bn).

Prime Minister Modi was among the first leaders to meet Trump after his inauguration. Modi hailed a “mega partnership” with the United States following his meeting with the president.

Trump and Modi set an ambitious target to more than double bilateral trade to $500bn, as the two leaders announced a deal for India to import more from America, including oil and gas.

Weeks later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard visited India, followed by a US delegation led by Assistant Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch.

Vance’s India tour is also seen as significant as Trump is likely to visit the country later this year for the Quad summit, which will also host leaders of Australia and Japan.

Speaking about Vance’s engagements in India, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal last week said Delhi was “very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties”.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook