U.S. Vice President JD Vance commended India’s “laser-like focus on the future,” and called Indians “a people who will not be held back,” in a laudatory speech to business leaders, politicians, and students in Jaipur on Tuesday.
“I really believe that the future of the 21st century is going to be determined by the strength of the U.S.-India partnership,” said Vance, whose four-day trip to India is the first by an American vice president in 12 years.
In his speech, Vance outlined three specific areas of deeper bilateral partnership, spanning defence, manufacturing and energy, and technology collaboration. The speech contrasts with Vance’s “blistering” February address to the Munich Security Conference, where he lectured his European hosts.
After speaking with Vance, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two sides made “significant progress” on a new bilateral trade deal. As part of the deal, the U.S. would likely reduce its suspended 26 per cent ‘reciprocal’ tariff on India.
The vice president’s bullish outlook on India appears to be a bipartisan consensus in the U.S., with the same enthusiasm for bolstering ties with Australia and Japan.
Vance’s trip coincided with a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, an accusation rejected by Pakistani officials. Relations have ruptured in the aftermath of the attack.
