April 23, 2025
NEW DELHI – US Vice-President J.D. Vance, on a four-day visit to India, has urged his host country to work more closely with the US, and pressed for more trade concessions and deals in energy and defence equipment.
Mr Vance – known for his aggressive articulation of US President Donald Trump’s agenda that has irritated allies and opponents alike – was conciliatory towards India, stating that the Trump administration believed in a strong India-US relationship.
“I really believe that the future of the 21st century is going to be determined by the strength of the United States-India partnership,” Mr Vance said in a speech in the northern city of Jaipur on April 22.
“But I also believe that if we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity,” he added.
Mr Vance is folding official engagements into a private multi-city visit to India with his family.
He met India Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks and dinner on April 21, before Mr Modi left on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, a key oil supplier.
Mr Vance’s trip comes as India races to finalise a trade deal with the US before the end of a 90-day moratorium of Mr Trump’s so-called “reciprocal” tariffs aimed at engineering “fair” trade for the US.
The deal, set in motion after Mr Modi visited Mr Trump at the White House in February, aims to more than double bilateral trade to US$500 billion (S$653 billion) by 2030.
The US is India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade touching US$129 billion in 2024 and a trade surplus of US$45.7 billion in India’s favour. Mr Trump has often called the South Asian country a “tariff king” for placing hefty duties on US imports and traditionally taking a protectionist stance.
The Vice-President did not wander too far from the US’ main message, suggesting that India remove “some of the non-tariff barriers for American access to the Indian market”, and urging it to purchase more armaments and oil from the US.
“We want to work together more, and we want your nation to buy more of our military equipment, which, of course, we believe is the best in class,” he said.
So far, New Delhi has taken an accommodative stance on trade. India in February started lowering tariffs on items such as American bourbon and is also opening up more to US companies and facilitating the entry of telecoms provider Starlink.
Negotiations are also gaining pace on the trade agreement to stave off the US’ 26 per cent reciprocal tariffs.
On April 21, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said India and the US have “finalised the terms of reference to lay down a roadmap for the negotiations on reciprocal trade”.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said Mr Modi and Mr Vance “welcomed the significant progress in the negotiations”, and added that Mr Modi looks forward to a visit by Mr Trump later in the year.
The US has over the years been deepening ties with India in a diverse range of sectors, from defence to high technology, on the back of mutual concerns over the rise of China, but also in a nod to the South Asian country’s rise as an emerging economy, with rapid growth and a large domestic market.
“We believe a stronger India means greater economic prosperity, but also greater stability across the Indo-Pacific,” Mr Vance said on April 22, without mentioning China, the world’s second-largest economy.
While the US sees China as an adversary, India is embroiled in a border row with China and leery of Beijing’s growing influence in South Asia.
Mr Vance’s visit is seen as an important gauge of the current temperature in Washington towards New Delhi.
“In some ways, given how America has been very aggressive with some of its closest partners, the sentiment expressed in Vance’s speech does seem to point out the fact that the Trump administration is keen to build ties with India and that there is a great deal of optimism,” said Professor Harsh V. Pant, vice-president of studies and foreign policy at Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation.
While both countries push towards finalising the trade deal, India is expected to remain protective of agriculture and dairy – two areas where the US is pushing for greater trade access.
Mr Vance’s visit was met with protests from farmers’ groups angry at the US for seeking concessions on agriculture, a heavily protected sector.
Pressure from farmers was a key factor in India’s decision to opt out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade agreement between 15 Asia-Pacific countries.
“One just has to see what happened during RCEP. India couldn’t go ahead because there is a substantial lobby here, especially in agriculture,” said trade expert Biswajit Dhar, a distinguished professor at the Council for Social Development, a research and policy studies institution based in New Delhi.
“Agriculture is where pressure is going to be most from the US and within India,” he added.
- Nirmala Ganapathy is India bureau chief at The Straits Times. She is based in New Delhi and writes about India’s foreign policy and politics.