Speaking at a fireside chat during the eighth US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) Leadership Summit, Vance reflected on her personal connection to India and the warmth her family experienced during their April visit.
“My children had never been to India. They grew up just knowing so much about this country—the story, the food—but they had never actually seen it. It was mind-blowing from their perspective,” she said. “Meeting the PM was very special. My kids saw him; they saw an Indian man with a white beard and white hair, and they immediately put them in the grandfather category.”
She added, “They just love him. And he really cemented his status by giving our five-year-old a birthday present that day.”
Vance, wife of Vice President J.D. Vance, said that the India-US relationship holds unique meaning for her. “Well, of course, it is a very personal relationship because I have family members who are in India, and I have many family members here in the United States… I did grow up visiting India and visiting those family members, and they grew up visiting me,” she said.
The Vance family, which includes three young children, visited India earlier this year. During their meeting with Prime Minister Modi at his residence in Delhi, Vance said her children “ran up to him and were hugging him.” She called the Prime Minister “incredibly kind and generous” and said the meeting left a deep impact on her children.
Vance also recalled a humorous moment from the same visit. “My son was just so taken by everything and then taken by the entire cart of mangoes that was available for him to eat that he announced to the Prime Minister that he thought he could maybe live there and started making his plans… He just loved it.”
Vance expressed her desire to explore her family’s roots in Andhra Pradesh during their next visit. “We’re looking forward to our next trip and trying to get to the parts of the country where my family is from as well,” she said.
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