Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US vice president JD Vance on the margins of a dinner for world leaders attending the AI Action Summit in Paris, his first interaction with a member of the Trump administration ahead of a visit to Washington.
A video posted on social media by French President Emmanuel Macron showed Modi shaking hands with Vance at the Elysee Palace on Monday night and congratulating him on the Republican Party’s victory in the US presidential election last November. “Congratulations. Great, great victory,” Modi said. Vance replied, “Thank you so much. So nice to see you.”
Vance and Chinese vice-premier Zhang Guoqing are among the world leaders attending the AI Action Summit to be co-chaired by Modi and Macron on Tuesday. The meeting between Modi and Vance came two days ahead of the prime minister’s first meeting with President Donald Trump in his second term.
People familiar with planning for the visit said the informal meeting between Modi and Vance had been firmed up shortly before the prime minister’s arrival in Paris. They said this was more in the nature of an introductory meeting, with more of the substantial issues to be taken up at Thursday’s meeting between Trump and Modi.
Modi will travel to the US on Wednesday after concluding his bilateral engagements with Macron in the port city of Marseille, where the two leaders will inaugurate a new Indian consulate and hold talks on a wide range of issues, including collaboration on AI and civil nuclear energy.
Trump and Modi had a comfortable relationship during the US president’s first term, and before his departure for the two-nation visit on Monday, the prime minister said he looked forward to “meeting my friend” Trump and recalled “working together in his first term” to build a comprehensive global strategic partnership with the US.
Modi said his visit to Washington is an “opportunity to build upon the successes of our collaboration in his first term and develop an agenda to further elevate and deepen our partnership”, especially in technology, trade, defence, energy and supply chain resilience.
Modi is set to arrive in the US at a time when Trump has signed a new batch of executive orders, including 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports into the US. Trump also plans to introduce reciprocal tariffs this week to match what other countries charge on US exports.
Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium are expected to escalate trade tensions and affect major exporters such as Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea. On Monday, the Indian Steel Association expressed “deep concern” over the US tariffs on steel imports and said the move will disrupt global trade and intensify challenges for the steel industry.
“This latest tariff is expected to slash steel exports to the US by 85%, creating a massive surplus that will likely flood India which is one of the few major markets without trade restrictions presently,” the Indian Steel Association said.
Trade, enhanced purchases of US-made military hardware, and energy cooperation are shaping up as the main issues for the meeting between Modi and Trump. Foreign secretary Vikram Misri said last week the Indian side expects “a more intense and continuing conversation” with the US on matters such as trade, investment, technology, and energy.
The visit to the US has been overshadowed by the US deportation of 104 illegal migrants, who were sent back in handcuffs and shackles on a military flight to Amritsar on February 5. The US is in the process of sending back nearly 600 migrants to India, though the schedule for the next deportation flight is currently not known.
