With US Vice President JD Vance set to arrive in India on Monday, the Congress has pressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi to confront Washington over the troubling manner of deportation of Indian citizens and the erosion of multilateralism anchored in the WTO.
The opposition party also urged Modi to flag India’s concerns over America’s past withdrawals from the Paris Agreement and the World Health Organization, questioning whether these critical issues would be raised during the high-level talks.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh asked in a post on X if the prime minister would convey India's concerns over the manner in which Indian citizens were being deported and Indian students made to live in an atmosphere of fear in the US after their parents spent their life savings to support their education in America.
Will the prime minister convey India's concern over the "complete destruction" of the multilateral rules-based trading system anchored in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), from which India has gained greatly, he asked.
Ramesh further questioned if Modi would convey India's concern over the US' withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, "which is so very essential for managing global warming that threatens the livelihoods of crores of our people."
Will the prime minister convey India's concern over the US' withdrawal from the WHO, which plays an important role in global public health research and management, Ramesh further asked.
He also asked if Modi would convey India's determination to ensure that any further bilateral trade liberalisation did not adversely impact Indian farmers, industry, and MSMEs.
Vance, his Indian-origin wife Usha and their three children -- Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel -- are scheduled to land at the Palam airbase at 10 am on Monday on a four-day visit.
Besides Delhi, Vance and his family will travel to Jaipur and Agra.
Modi will host a dinner for Vance in the evening after holding talks with the American leader on a range of key issues, including trade, tariffs, regional security and ways to expand the overall bilateral engagement.
Vance's first visit comes weeks after US President Donald Trump imposed and then paused sweeping tariffs against about 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 tariffs and market access.
On Monday evening, PM Modi will welcome Vance and his family at his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence. This will be followed by official talks.
The focus of the meeting is likely to be on early finalisation of the proposed bilateral trade pact as well as ways to boost overall trajectory of ties between the two countries.
