The United States Vice President JD Vance arrived at Palam Airport in New Delhi for his first official visit to India on Monday, April 21. Accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance and their children, the Vice President received a ceremonial Guard of Honour.
India’s Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed the family at the airport, where hoardings bearing the Vice President's image had been put up in anticipation of the visit.
Vice President Vance's four-day trip will run from April 21 to 24.
The Vance family was 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.
Vance will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 6:30 pm Monday at the Prime Minister's official residence, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. The meeting is expected to cover a range of issues, including economic cooperation, defence collaboration, and advancing bilateral trade ties.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, speaking at a media briefing last week, 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.” He added, “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. They are scheduled to depart India the following day.
ANI/RSS
