US Vice President JD Vance & Family Lands In India, Visits Akshardham Temple

US Vice President JD Vance, his Indian-origin wife Usha, and their three children, Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel, had landed at the Palam airbase around 9.30 am today (April 21). The US Vice President and his family are on a four-day visit to India. 

With the arrival of the Vances, Security across the national capital has been beefed up.  Security agencies were also on alert before the Vances landed.

"We have already conducted mock drills in line with security protocols for the high-level visit. Security has been strengthened across several parts of Delhi to ensure that everything proceeds smoothly and without incident," an official was quoted to have saying to the media. 

Vance and his family are scheduled to visit the Akshardham temple as well as  Jaipur and Agra during their four-day India trip. 

As tightened security measures for the Vances' visit to Akshardham temple in Delhi, a police official was quoted to have said as--"We have conducted advanced security checks at the Akshardham temple. Our teams have been deployed there and will remain on-site throughout the visit." 

To Meet PM Modi

Vance is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the PM's residence today evening.

The two leaders are expected to discuss about several issues that include the bilateral trade agreement between India and the US. The two leaders are also expected to discuss on the implementation of the important outcomes from the India-US joint statement issued during Modi’s visit to the US in February.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar are to be present at the meeting. Moreover, a five-member US delegation of officials from the Pentagon and the State Department will also take part in the discussion.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a dinner for the Vances after the talks.  Vance will leave for Jaipur tonight and visit Agra thereafter.

Vance's visit to India takes place weeks after US President Donald Trump had imposed an expansive tariff regime against about  60 countries, including India. Trump had however put a temporary pause on it.