Tariffs, visa, tech sharing on table as Vance arrives today

India is looking to flag tariffs, rejection of visas to genuine students and slow pace of technology sharing as US Vice-President JD Vance holds talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his four-day visit starting Monday.

Vance will be accompanied by his Indian-origin wife Usha and three children. Vance’s maiden visit to India comes weeks after US President Donald Trump imposed and then paused a sweeping tariff regime against nearly 60 countries, including India.

New Delhi and Washington are now holding negotiations to seal a bilateral trade agreement that is expected to address a variety of issues, including tariff and market access. Trade negotiators of both sides are set to kick off the second round of virtual talks this week and will lead to a physical meeting in May.

Rejection of visas to Indian students is US’ domestic matter, but India will still flag it, say sources. The matter of legal mobility of students and professionals was discussed when Modi and Trump had met in Washington DC in February. After the meeting, a joint statement said “both leaders… (called) for putting in place innovative, mutually advantageous and secure mobility frameworks. In this regard, the leaders committed to streamlining avenues for legal mobility of students and professionals”.

The issue of technology sharing is integral to India’s strategic partnership with the US. The India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) had met in January, during Joe Biden’s tenure. The iCET is co-chaired by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Michael Waltz, who replaced Jake Sullivan. The iCET — set up in 2022 — is tasked with driving concrete initiatives between the two countries across a range of areas, including artificial intelligence, telecommunications, defence and space.

After the talks on Monday, PM Modi will host a dinner for Vance and his wife. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, NSA Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Indian ambassador to US Vinay Mohan Kwatra are expected to be there as well.

The US Vice-President and his family are scheduled to land at the Palam airbase at 10 am on Monday. They are slated to visit the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple and a shopping complex selling traditional Indian handcrafted goods, sources said. A senior Union Cabinet minister would receive the couple.

The couple will head off to Jaipur in the evening and visit Amer Fort, a UNESCO world heritage site, among other historical places the next day.

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