United States Vice President JD Vance arrived at Palam Airport in New Delhi earlier today, marking the start of his first official visit to India. He is accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance and their children. Upon arrival, the Vice President was accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour.
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed the Vance family at the airport, where hoardings bearing the Vice President’s image had been put up in anticipation of the high-level visit. The four-day trip will run from April 21 to 24.
Shortly after landing, the Vance family is scheduled to visit the Akshardham Temple.
Temple spokesperson Radhika Shukla said, “The Vice President and the Second Lady are coming for the Darshan at Akshardham Temple. She has Indian roots… They are coming here directly from the airport… They will first have the darshan of the replica of Lord Swaminarayan and then they will see the architecture of the temple,” she said.
Later in the evening, Vice President Vance is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 6:30 PM at the Prime Minister’s official residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. The meeting is expected to focus on key areas including economic cooperation, defence collaboration, and advancement of bilateral trade ties.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had earlier said:
“We have a comprehensive strategic global partnership; when you have that level of partnership with any country, obviously, you will discuss all relevant issues.”
“Of course, our relationship is such that we are doing anything that is part of our human endeavour from part of our bilateral engagement … so all these bilateral issues will be discussed and we are very positive that the visit will give a further boost to our bilateral ties.”
Following engagements in New Delhi, the Vance family will travel to Jaipur on April 22 and Agra on April 23. The Vice President is scheduled to depart India early morning on April 24.