US Vice President JD Vance, who is visiting India, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. In the meeting held at Modi's government residence on Lok Kalyan Marg, economic cooperation, defense cooperation and bilateral trade relations between the two countries were discussed.

Prime Minister Modi held discussions with Vance while efforts were being made to finalize the bilateral trade agreement. According to Indian media, the meeting between the two leaders focused on strengthening India-US strategic cooperation and addressing New Delhi's concerns about recent changes in Washington's trade policy. 

Vance left New Delhi on Monday for his first official visit to India. Union Minister of India Ashwini Vaishnav welcomed Vance, who landed at Palam Airport in New Delhi on Monday afternoon on a four-day visit with his wife Usha and children. 

Vance's wife Usha Vance hails from a South Indian Hindu immigrant family. In his memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance described his wife as "the very intelligent daughter of an Indian immigrant". He met Usha at Yale Law School. Usha's parents migrated to America in the late 1970s. The Vance family is scheduled to visit Jaipur on Tuesday and Agra on Wednesday. 

Vance made an official visit to India amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing due to the recent trade war. Beijing is New Delhi's main competitor in the Asian region. Vance arrived in India a few weeks after Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard visited India for a geopolitical conference and two months after Indian Prime Minister Modi met Trump in Washington.

Earlier, Modi reached the White House and met with Trump. At that time, Modi had said that he was ready for a 'mega partnership' with the US. Similarly, he talked about the new customs duties introduced by the Trump administration. A few days after the meeting, President Trump announced a 26 percent tariff on Indian imports. But he has postponed the fee for 90 days.  During the

visit, Modi tried to play down trade tensions by saying he was ready to cut more tariffs on US goods, send back undocumented Indians and buy military equipment. Because of this, both countries agreed to negotiate for a trade agreement.