U.S. Vice President JD Vance and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz are expected to visit India during the third week of April, in what is being described as a significant diplomatic moment for New Delhi, according to people familiar with the matter.
While Waltz’s visit to the capital for a meeting with Indian NSA Ajit Doval to discuss the TRUST initiative had been confirmed earlier, Vance’s trip has also now been finalised, sources said on condition of anonymity, according to local media.
Waltz is expected to be in India from April 21 to 23 and will participate in a closed-door India-US Forum organised by a think tank, they said.
These high-level visits follow the March trip of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, the first member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet to travel to India. Gabbard participated in a key security conclave and the Raisina Dialogue during her visit.
There is a narrow window for a potential meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US dignitaries, as Modi is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia from April 22 to 23, the sources added.
A key item on Waltz’s agenda is the TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative, a reboot of the earlier Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). TRUST was launched following the February meeting between Trump and Modi in Washington.
The initiative focuses on deepening cooperation between the US and India across governments, academia, and the private sector in areas such as defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy, and space. A central component of the TRUST framework is the safeguarding of sensitive technologies.
Headed by the national security advisors of both countries, the TRUST dialogue will provide an opportunity to assess ongoing collaborations on critical technologies and defence, and to advance efforts on export controls, regulatory streamlining, and secure supply chain development.
Meanwhile, Vice President Vance’s trip will be largely personal in nature. Accompanied by his Indian-origin wife, Usha Vance, and their three children, the visit is intended to help introduce the children to their Indian heritage.
“It will be 75% personal in nature, with a 25% official component,” one person familiar with the plans said.
An American advance security team has already surveyed several cities the family may visit, including Agra, Jaipur, Shimla, and Hyderabad. Hyderabad is a likely stop, as Usha Vance’s parents, Radhakrishna and Lakshmi Chilukuri, have roots in Andhra Pradesh.
The couple’s children – sons Ewan and Vivek and daughter Maribel – are expected to experience India for the first time through this visit, the sources said.
JD Vance and Usha Chilukuri met while attending Yale Law School and married in 2014.
