Description: US Vice President JD Vance met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi where they discussed strengthening of strategic ties between the US and India and potential trade agreements going forward. Vance’s visit was generally to loosen the grip around Trump’s tariff policies towards the south Asian country which before the delay faced tariffs of 27%. Modi and Vance also discussed close cooperation in the future in crucial economic sectors such as energy, defense, strategic technologies, and agriculture. The meet emphasized the US push to counterbalance China’s growing regional influence and forward the Trump’s administration tariff foreign policies strategy. The US is India’s largest trade partner with bilateral trade reaching $129 billion in 2024 with commitments from both countries to increase trade of up to $500 billion in 2030. Both countries are part of the Quad partnership involving Australia and Japan with Modi and Vance further incentivizing cooperation within the regional partnership agreement.
Impact: Vance’s visit to India comes as a counterattack to Chinese President Xi Jinping strategic tour in Southeastern Asia earlier this month. The US would aim to solidify their regional strategic partnerships and discuss trade surpluses separately with allied affected countries, especially the ones in Asia. India despite being the strategic partnership pillar for the US in Asia is also actively engaged in pursuing closer ties with US adversaries such as China and Russia adopting a varied method of conducting foreign policy to protect national interests. Trump’s earlier announcement to reduce the percentage of tariffs on China and other affected countries positively impacted the global markets indicating growing diplomatic multilateral efforts regarding trade and strategic ties. The visit reaffirmed the US prioritization of the Asian geopolitical theater as their primary point of interest and confirmed India’s strategic orientation going forward.