JD Vance Highlights Trade And Economic Goals For U.S.-India Partnership In Jaipur Speech

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Vice President JD Vance focuses on trade and the economic alliance of the U.S. and India in his speech at the Rajasthan Centre in Jaipur, India.   Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  0:00 Introduction 2:32 JD Vance's Economic Goals For The U.S. 8:21 Economic Notes From JD Vance 16:45 Energy Sources For The U.S.  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Please welcome the Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance.

00:25Good to see everybody. How are we doing?

00:27Good, good. Well, it's an amazing privilege to be here in Jaipur. I'm thrilled to address

00:35the Ananda Sanders India-U.S. Forum, and I'm thrilled to have you all here with me. Thanks

00:40to all of you – the business leaders, decision makers, and of course, the students – for

00:45being here. And thanks to our great team at the U.S. Embassy for everything that you guys

00:49do for our country. In the United States, we're proud of the deep connection between our nations,

00:55between India and the United States. Prime Minister Modi, as most of you probably know,

01:00was one of the first visitors welcomed into the Oval Office during President Trump's

01:04second term. And like President Trump, the Prime Minister inspires remarkable loyalty because

01:10of the strength of his belief in his people and in his country. Now, we're so grateful

01:16for Prime Minister Modi's hospitality, as well as the reception that he and everyone else

01:20in this country have given us on this first trip for me to India. This is my first time

01:27visiting the birthplace of my wife's parents. And she's, of course, in the front row there.

01:32There you are, Usha. She's a bit of a celebrity, it turns out, in India, I think more so than

01:41her husband. But I haven't been here long, but already I've been fortunate enough to visit

01:46the Akhsidham Temple – did I pronounce that right, honey? I did okay? All right.

01:51With my family this morning, as a matter of fact. And last night, Prime Minister Modi welcomed

01:56me, Usha, and our three small children at his beautiful home. I've been amazed by the ancient

02:03beauty of the architecture of India, by the richness of India's history and traditions, but also

02:09by India's laser-like focus on the future. And those things, I think, this appreciation for history

02:15and tradition and this focus on the future is very much something that I think animates this country

02:20in 2025. Now, in other countries I've visited, it sometimes feels like there's a flatness,

02:26a saneness, a desire to just be like everyone else in the world. But it's different here.

02:33There's a vitality to India, a sense of infinite possibility, of new homes to be built, new skylines

02:40to be raised, and lives to be enriched. And there's a pride in being Indian, a feeling of excitement

02:46about the days that lie ahead. Now, it's a striking contrast with too many in the West,

02:52where some in our leadership class seem stricken by self-doubt and even fear of the future. To them,

02:59humanity is always one bad decision away from catastrophe. The world will soon end, they tell

03:04us, because we're burning too much fuel or making too many things or having too many children. And so,

03:10rather than invest in the future, they too often retreat from it. Some of them pass laws that force

03:17their nations to use less power. They cancel nuclear and other energy generation facilities,

03:23even as their choices, the choices of these leaders lead to more dependence on foreign adversaries.

03:29Meanwhile, their message to their friends, to countries like India, is to tell them that

03:34they're not allowed to grow. Well, President Trump rejects these failed ideas. He wants America to

03:41grow. He wants India to grow. And he wants to build the future with our partners all over the globe.

03:52And when I look at this audience, or when I visit this incredible country over these last couple of

03:58days, I see a people that will not be held back. Now, the most profound responsibility,

04:03I believe that all of us have, is not to ourselves, but to the next generation, to make sure we leave

04:09them with a better society than the one that our parents and our grandparents gave us. And this is

04:14the world that America seeks to create with you. We want to build a bright new world, one that's

04:20constantly innovating, one that's helping people to form families, making it easier to build,

04:26invest, and trade together in pursuit of common goals. Now, I believe that our nations have much

04:33to offer one another. And that's why we come to you as partners looking to strengthen our

04:38relationship. Now, we're not here to preach that you do things any one particular way.

04:45Too often in the past, Washington approached Prime Minister Modi with an attitude of preachiness,

04:50or even one of condescension. Prior administrations saw India as a source of low-cost labor on the one

04:58hand, even as they criticized the Prime Minister's government, arguably the most popular in the

05:03democratic world. And as I told Prime Minister Modi last night, he's got approval ratings that would

05:08make me jealous. But it wasn't just India. This attitude captured too much of our economic

05:17relationship with the rest of the world. So we shipped countless jobs overseas, and with them,

05:24our capacity to make things, from furniture, appliances, and even weapons of war. We traded

05:31hard power for soft power, because with economic integration, we were told, would also come peace

05:38through sameness. Over time, we'd all assume the same sort of bland, secular, universal values,

05:46no matter where you lived. The world was flat. After all, that was the thesis, and that was what

05:51they told us. And when that thesis proved false, or at least incomplete, leaders in the West took it

05:58upon themselves to flatten it by any means necessary. But many people across the world, and I think your

06:04country counts among them, they did not want to be flattened. Many were proud of where they came from,

06:10their way of life, the kind of jobs they worked, and the kind of jobs their parents worked before

06:15them. And that very much includes people in my own country, the United States of America.

06:21Now, some of you are aware of my own background. I actually didn't plan to talk about my background

06:26at all until last night at dinner, while my children mostly behaved. We gave an A- for behavior

06:32with the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister said, I have one request. I want you to talk a little bit

06:38about your background. And so I wanted to do that. For those of you who don't know anything about me,

06:42I wanted to talk about it. I come from, and I'm biased, the greatest state in the Union,

06:48the state of Ohio, a longtime manufacturing powerhouse in the United States of America.

06:53My home specifically is a place called Middletown. Now, it's not a massive city by any means. It's not

06:59Jaipur, but it's a decent-sized town and a place where people make things, which has been a point of

07:05pride in Middletown for generations. It's filled with families like my own, some of whom called us

07:11hillbillies, Americans who came down from the surrounding hills and mountains of West Virginia,

07:16Tennessee, and Kentucky to cities like Middletown in pursuit of the manufacturing jobs that were

07:23creating widespread prosperity for families all across America. They came to Middletown in search

07:28of what we call back home the American dream. In Middletown, my parents raised me. My grandparents

07:34raised me. They taught us to work hard. They taught me to study hard. And they taught me to love God

07:40and my country and always be good to your own. My granddad, who I called Papaw growing up,

07:46he typified that. Late into life, he worked as a steelmaker at the local mill. And I know India

07:53has a lot of those. Papaw's job gave him a good wage, stable hours, and a generous pension.

07:59All that allowed him to support not just him and my grandmother, but his own daughter and grandkids

08:04with him. Now, by the time I came around, money was awfully tight, but he worked hard to make a good

08:09living for all of us. Now, I know Papaw and Mamaw were grateful for the way of life their

08:14country made possible. Their generation bore witness to the formation of America's great

08:20middle class. And by creating an economy centered around production, around workers who build things,

08:26and around the value of their labor, our nation's leaders then transformed their country and made

08:32thousands of little Middletowns possible. The government supported its labor force.

08:37We created incentives for productive industries to take root and struck good deals with international

08:43partners to sell the goods made in the United States of America. But as America settled in to

08:49world historic prosperity it generated, our leaders began to take that very prosperity and what created

08:56it for granted. They forgot the importance of building, of supporting productive industry,

09:02of striking fair deals, and of supporting our workers and their families.

09:05And as time went on, we saw the consequences. In my hometown, factories left, jobs evaporated,

09:13America's Middletowns ceased to be the lifeblood of our nation's economy. And the United States,

09:19as it became transformed, those very people, the working class, the background of the United

09:25States of America, were dismissed as backwards for holding on to the values their people had held

09:30dear for generations. Now Middletown's story is my story, but it's hardly unusual in the United States

09:37of America. There are tens of millions of Americans who over the last 20 or so years have woken up to what's

09:44happening in our nation. But I believe they woke up well before it's too late. Now like you, we want to

09:51appreciate our history, our culture, our religion. We want to do commerce and strike good deals with our friends. We want to

09:58found our vision of the future upon the proud recognition of our heritage, rather than self-loathing

10:04and fear. I work for a president who has long understood all of this. Whether through fighting

10:11those who seek to erase American history, or in support of fair trade deals abroad, he has been

10:17consistent on these issues for decades. And as a result, under the Trump administration, America now has a

10:23government that has learned from the mistakes of the past. It's why President Trump cares so deeply about

10:30protecting the manufacturing economy that is the lifeblood of American prosperity, and making sure

10:35America's workers have opportunities for good jobs. As we saw earlier this month, he will go to

10:41extraordinary lengths to protect and expand those opportunities for all Americans. And so today I come here

10:48with a simple message. Our administration seeks trade partners on the basis of fairness and of shared

10:54national interests. We want to build relationships with our foreign partners who respect their workers,

11:01who don't suppress their wages to boost exports, but respect the value of their labor. We want partners

11:07that are committed to working with America to build things, not just allowing themselves to become a

11:12conduit for transshipping others' goods. And finally, we want to partner with people and countries who

11:19recognize the historic nature of the moment we're in, of the need to come together and build something

11:25truly new, a system of global trade that is balanced, one that is open, and one that is stable and fair.

11:34Now, I want to be clear, America's partners need not look exactly like America, nor must our governments

11:42do everything exactly the same way. But we should have some common goals, and I believe here in India we do,

11:49in both economics and in national security. And that's why we're so excited, that's why I'm so excited to be here

11:56today. In India, America has a friend, and we seek to strengthen the warm bonds our great nations already share.

12:04Now, critics have attacked my president, President Trump, for starting a trade war in an effort to bring back

12:12the jobs of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth. He seeks to rebalance global trade so that

12:19America, with friends like India, can build a future worth having for all of our people together. And when President

12:27Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February that our countries aim to more than double our bilateral trade to

12:34500 billion dollars by the end of the decade, I know that both of them meant it. And I'm encouraged by

12:40everything our nations are doing to get us there. As many of you are aware, both of our governments are

12:47hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities, like creating new jobs, building durable

12:53supply chains, and achieving prosperity for our workers. In our meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Modi and I made

13:00very good progress on all of those points. And we are especially excited to formally announce

13:06that America and India have officially finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiation.

13:12I think this is a vital step. I believe this is a vital step toward realizing President Trump's and

13:24Prime Minister Modi's vision, because it sets a roadmap toward a final deal between our nations. I believe

13:31there is much that America and India can accomplish together. And on that note, I want to talk about a few

13:37areas of collaboration today, how India and the United States can work together. First, perhaps most

13:44importantly, to protect our nations. Second, to build great things. And finally, to innovate the cutting

13:51edge technologies both our countries will need in the years to come. Now, on defense, our countries

13:57already enjoy a close relationship, one of the closest relationships in the world. America does more military

14:03exercises with India than we do with any other nation on earth. The U.S.-India compact that President

14:09Trump and Prime Minister Modi announced in February will lay the foundation for even closer collaboration

14:15between our countries. From javelins to striker combat vehicles, our nations will co-produce many

14:22of the munitions and equipment that we'll need to deter foreign aggressors. Not because we seek war,

14:27but because we seek peace, and we believe the best path to peace is through mutual strength. And the

14:34launching the Joint Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance will enable America and India to develop

14:40the most state-of-the-art maritime systems needed for victory. It's fitting that India this year is

14:47hosting the Quad Leaders Summit this fall. Our interests in a free, open, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific

14:55are in full alignment. Both of us know that the region must remain safe from any hostile powers that

15:02seek to dominate it. Growing relations between our countries over the last decade are part of what led

15:09America to designate India a major defense partner, the first of that class. This designation means that

15:16India now shares with the UAE a defense and technology infrastructure and partnership with the United States

15:25on par with America's closest allies and friends. But we actually feel that India has much more to gain

15:34from its continued defense partnership with the United States, and let me sketch that out a little bit.

15:39We, of course, want to collaborate more. We want to work together more. And we want your nation to buy

15:44more of our military equipment, which, of course, we believe is the best in class. American fifth-generation

15:50F-35s, for example, would give the Indian Air Force the ability to defend your airspace and protect your

15:56people like never before. And I've met a lot of great people from the Indian Air Force just in the

16:00last couple of days. India, like America, wants to build. And that will mean that we have to produce

16:08more energy. It's more energy production and more energy consumption. And it's one of the many reasons why I

16:14think our nations have so much to gain by strengthening our energy ties. As President Trump is fond of

16:21saying, America has once again begun to drill baby drill. And we think that will inure to the benefit

16:29of Americans, but it will also benefit India as well. Past administrations in the United States of

16:36America, I think motivated by a fear of the future, have tied our hands and restricted American investments

16:42in oil and natural gas production. This administration recognizes that cheap, dependable energy is an

16:51essential part of making things and is an essential part of economic independence for both of our

16:57nations. Of course, America is blessed with vast natural resources and an unusual capacity to generate

17:05energy, so much that we want to be able to sell it to our friends like India. We believe your nation

17:12will benefit from American energy exports and expanding those exports. You'll be able to build more,

17:18make more, and grow more, but at much lower energy costs. We also want to help India explore its own

17:26considerable natural resources, including its offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies.

17:33We have the capacity and we have the desire to help. Moreover, we think energy co-production will help

17:40beat unfair competitors in other foreign markets. But India, we believe, can go a long way to enhance

17:47energy ties between our nations. And one suggestion I'd have is maybe consider dropping some of the

17:53non-tariff barriers for American access to the Indian market. Now, we've talked about this,

17:59of course, with Prime Minister Modi. And look, President Trump and I know that Prime Minister Modi is a

18:04tough negotiator. He drives a hard bargain. It's one of the reasons why we respect him.

18:12And we don't blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India's industry. But we do blame American

18:20leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers. And we believe that we can fix that to

18:26the mutual benefit of both the United States and India. Let me give an example. American ethanol,

18:32we believe made from the finest corn in the world, can play a tremendous role in enhancing our

18:37partnership. And I know our farmers would be delighted to support India's energy security ambitions.

18:44We welcome the Modi government's budget announcement to amend India's civil nuclear liability laws,

18:49which currently prevent U.S. producers from exporting small modular reactors and building larger U.S.

18:55business-designed reactors in India. There's much that we can create, much that we can do together.

19:03We believe that American energy can help realize India's nuclear power production goals,

19:07and this is very important, as well as its AI ambitions. Because as the United States knows well,

19:13and I know that India knows well, there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance.

19:20And that brings me to my final point of collaboration. I believe that the technological collaboration

19:27between our countries is going to extend well beyond defense and energy. The U.S.-India

19:32Trust Initiative that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have launched will be a cornerstone

19:38of the partnership in the future. It will build on billions of dollars of planned investments that

19:43American companies have already announced across India. In the years to come, we're going to see data

19:49centers, pharmaceuticals, undersea cables, and countless other critical goods being developed

19:55and being built because of the American and Indian economic partnership. And I'll say it again,

20:01I think that our nations have so much to gain by investing in one another. America investing in India,

20:07and of course, India investing in the United States of America. And I know that Americans,

20:12our people are excited about that prospect, and that President Trump and I are looking forward to

20:18stronger ties. Americans want further access to Indian markets. This is a great place to do business,

20:24and we want to give our people more access to this country. And Indians, we believe, will thrive from

20:29greater commerce in the United States. This is very much a win-win partnership. It certainly will be

20:36far into the future. And as I know this audience knows better than most, neither Americans nor Indians

20:45are alone in looking to scale up their manufacturing capacity. The competition extends well beyond cheap

20:52consumer goods and into munitions, energy, infrastructure, and all sorts of other cutting-edge technologies.

21:00I believe that if our nations fail to keep pace, the consequences for the Indo-Pacific,

21:06but really the consequences for the entire world, will be quite dire. And this again is where India

21:11and the United States have so much to offer one another. We've got great hardware, the leading

21:16artificial intelligence hardware in the world. You have one of the most exciting startup technology

21:23infrastructures anywhere in the world. There's a lot to be gained by working together. And this is why

21:29President Trump and I both welcome India's leadership in a number of diplomatic organizations, but of

21:35course, in the Quad. We believe a stronger India means greater economic prosperity, but also greater

21:42stability across the Indo-Pacific, which is, of course, a shared goal for all of us in this room,

21:47and it's a shared goal for both of our countries. I want to close with one last story, or maybe a couple

21:54of stories. So, you know, my son, Ewan, is seven years old. He's our firstborn son. And yesterday,

22:01after we had dinner at the Prime Minister's house, the food was so good and the Prime Minister was so

22:08kind to our three children that Ewan came up to me afterwards and he said, Dad, you know,

22:12I think maybe I could live in India. But I think after about 90 minutes in the Jaipur sun today at

22:23the Great Palace, he suggested that maybe we should move to England. So you take the good with the bad

22:28here. But I want to talk about Prime Minister Modi because I think he's a special person. I first met

22:33Prime Minister Modi at the AI Action Summit in February, and we had a lot of important discussions

22:39on AI and other policies to prepare for. The Prime Minister also managed to figure out that my son,

22:45Vivek, was actually turning five years old on the trip. This was in Paris just a couple of months ago.

22:51So think about this. Amid a huge international policy conference, he took the time to stop by

22:56where I was staying, wish our second son, Vivek, a happy birthday, and even bring him a gift. Ush and I

23:04were both genuinely touched by his graciousness, and we've been even more impressed by his warmth

23:09since we arrived in India. Now, it's interesting. Some of you may know that when you're a politician,

23:14your kids spend almost as much time in the limelight as you do. And the great things about

23:20kids is they are brutally honest. They're brutally honest with everybody, whether you want them to

23:24be or not. And our seven-year-old, our five-year-old, and then our three-year-old baby girl, Mirabelle,

23:30it's interesting. They've only really attached themselves to, they've only really liked,

23:37I should say, they've only really built a rapport with two world leaders. The first, of course,

23:43is President Trump. He just has a certain energy about him. But Prime Minister Modi,

23:49it's the exact same thing. Our kids just like him. And I think that because kids are such good,

23:54strong of characters, I just like Prime Minister Modi too. And I think it's a great foundation

23:59for the future of our relationship.

24:03I could tell then, I could tell when Prime Minister Modi came over a couple of months ago. And I believe

24:08today that he is a serious leader who has thought deeply about India's future prosperity and security,

24:15not just for the rest of his time in office, but over the next century.

24:18And I want to end by making a simple overarching point. We are now officially one quarter into the

24:2721st century, 25 years in 75 years to go. And I really believe that the future of the 21st century

24:37is going to be determined by the strength of the United States-India partnership. I believe. Thank you.

24:48I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st

24:56century that is prosperous and peaceful. But I also believe that if we fail to work together

25:01successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity. So I want to say it's clear

25:09to me, as it is to most observers, that President Trump, of course, intends to rebalance America's

25:15economic relationship with the rest of the world. That's going to cause fundamentally will cause

25:21profound changes within our borders in the United States, but of course, with other countries as

25:26well. But I believe that this rebalancing is going to produce great benefits for American workers.

25:34It's going to produce great benefits for the people of India. And because our partnership is so

25:40important to the future of the world, I believe President Trump's efforts, joined, of course,

25:46by the whole country of India and Prime Minister Modi, will make the 21st century the best century in

25:52human history. Let's do it together. God bless you. And thank you for having me.

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