JD Vance, Vice President of the U.S., will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Apr 21 during a four-day trip focused on strengthening bilateral trade relationships, as per the press release.
This trip comes at a time when both countries are trying to finalize a trade agreement after a 90-day lull on imports from the U.S., which included a 27% duty that was previously imposed on goods from India.
India's Ministry of External Affairs told the press that this trip will allow leaders to “review the progress in bilateral relations.” Vance is traveling with his wife and children and will be making his first official visit to India since being sworn into office under President Donald Trump.
India has already lowered tariffs on a range of products and is reportedly thinking about lowering tariffs further, in response to Trump’s threats.
The visit conforms more broadly to a pattern of high-level interactions. U.S. intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard visited Delhi for a geopolitical conference weeks earlier on Mar 16. Members of the Quad alliance, both India and the United States are seen as a counterpoint to China's sway in the Indo-Pacific.
While the U.S. keeps honing its approach to stablecoins and blockchain monitoring, India unveiled 30% tax rules for crypto transactions. Whether the conversation between Modi and JD Vance will include cryptocurrency is not known.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $84,113.99, a dip of 0.64% over the last day, as per Kraken. The global crypto market is standing at $2.64 trillion, a dip of 0.65% in the last 24 hours.