In remarks at the Rajasthan Centre in Jaipur, India, Vice President JD Vance spoke about the U.S.-India economic relationship, and urged India to drop some non-tariff barriers.
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00:00but at much lower energy costs.
00:03We also want to help India explore its own considerable natural resources,
00:07including its offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies.
00:12We have the capacity and we have the desire to help.
00:17Moreover, we think energy co-production will help beat unfair competitors in other foreign markets.
00:23But India, we believe, can go a long way to enhance energy ties between our nations.
00:28And one suggestion I'd have is maybe consider dropping some of the non-tariff barriers
00:33for American access to the Indian market.
00:37Now, we've talked about this, of course, with Prime Minister Modi.
00:39And look, President Trump and I know that Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator.
00:44He drives a hard bargain. It's one of the reasons why we respect him.
00:51And we don't blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India's industry.
00:56But we do blame American leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers.
01:02And we believe that we can fix that to the mutual benefit of both the United States and India.
01:08Let me give an example.
01:09American ethanol, we believe made from the finest corn in the world,
01:14can play a tremendous role in enhancing our partnership.
01:17And I know our farmers would be delighted to support India's energy security ambitions.
01:23We welcome the Modi government's budget announcement to amend India's civil nuclear liability laws,
01:28which currently prevent U.S. producers from exporting small modular reactors
01:33and building larger U.S.-designed reactors in India.
01:37There's much that we can create, much that we can do together.
01:42We believe that American energy can help realize India's nuclear power production goals,
01:46and this is very important, as well as its AI ambitions.
01:50Because as the United States knows well, and I know that India knows well,
01:54there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance.
02:00And that brings me to my final point of collaboration.
02:03I believe that the technological collaboration between our countries is going to extend well beyond
02:09defense and energy.
02:10The U.S.-India Trust Initiative that President Trump and Prime Minister Modi have launched
02:15will be a cornerstone of the partnership in the future.
02:19It will build on billions of dollars of planned investments that American companies have already
02:24announced across India.
02:25In the years to come, we're going to see data centers, pharmaceuticals, undersea cables,
02:31and countless other critical goods being developed and being built because of the American
02:36and Indian economic partnership.
02:39And I'll say it again, I think that our nations have so much to gain by investing in one another.
02:44America investing in India, and of course, India investing in the United States of America.
02:50And I know that Americans, our people, are excited about that prospect,
02:54and that President Trump and I are looking forward to stronger ties.
02:59Americans want further access to Indian markets.
03:01This is a great place to do business, and we want to give our people more access to this country.
03:06And Indians, we believe, will thrive from greater commerce in the United States.
03:11This is very much a win-win partnership. It certainly will be far into the future.
03:18And, as I know this audience knows better than most, neither Americans nor Indians are alone
03:24in looking to scale up their manufacturing capacity.
03:28The competition extends well beyond cheap consumer goods and into munitions, energy,
03:35infrastructure, and all sorts of other cutting-edge technologies.
03:39I believe that if our nations fail to keep pace, the consequences for the Indo-Pacific,
03:45but really the consequences for the entire world, will be quite dire.
03:48And this, again, is where India and the United States have so much to offer one another.
03:53We've got great hardware, the leading artificial intelligence hardware in the world.
03:58You have one of the most exciting startup technology infrastructures anywhere in the world.
04:04There's a lot to be gained by working together.
04:07And this is why President Trump and I both welcome India's leadership in a number of diplomatic
04:13organizations, but, of course, in the Quad.
04:16We believe a stronger India means greater economic prosperity, but also greater stability across the
04:22Indo-Pacific, which is, of course, a shared goal for all of us in this room and is a shared goal for both of our countries.
04:37So,
04:40you