In remarks at the Rajasthan Centre in Jaipur, India, Vice President JD Vance spoke about the importance of the U.S.-India relationship.
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00:00I want to close with one last story, or maybe a couple of stories.
00:05So, you know, my son, Ewan, is seven years old.
00:08He's our firstborn son.
00:10And yesterday, after we had dinner at the prime minister's house, the food was so good,
00:17and the prime minister was so kind to our three children, that Ewan came up to me afterwards
00:22and he said, Dad, you know, I think maybe I could live in India.
00:24And, but I think after about 90 minutes in the Jaipur sun today at the Great Palace,
00:34he suggested that maybe we should move to England.
00:37So you take the good with the bad here.
00:39But I want to talk about Prime Minister Modi because I think he's a special person.
00:43I first met Prime Minister Modi at the AI Action Summit in February,
00:47and we had a lot of important discussions on AI and other policies to prepare for.
00:52Now, the prime minister also managed to figure out that my son, Vivek, was actually turning five years old on the trip.
00:58This was in Paris just a couple of months ago.
01:01So think about this.
01:02Amid a huge international policy conference, he took the time to stop by where I was staying,
01:08wish our second son, Vivek, a happy birthday, and even bring him a gift.
01:13Ush and I were both genuinely touched by his graciousness,
01:17and we've been even more impressed by his warmth since we arrived in India.
01:20Now, it's interesting.
01:22Some of you may know that when you're a politician, your kids spend almost as much time in the limelight as you do.
01:29And the great things about kids is they are brutally honest.
01:32They're brutally honest with everybody, whether you want them to be or not.
01:36And our 7-year-old, our 5-year-old, and our 3-year-old baby girl, Mirabelle, it's interesting.
01:41They have only really been, they've only really attached themselves to, they've only really liked, I should say,
01:48they've only really built a rapport with two world leaders.
01:52The first, of course, is President Trump.
01:54He just has a certain energy about him.
01:57But Prime Minister Modi, it's the exact same thing.
02:01Our kids just like him.
02:02And I think that because kids are such good, strong of characters, I just like Prime Minister Modi, too.
02:07And I think it's a great foundation for the future of our relationship.
02:13I could tell then, I could tell when Prime Minister Modi came over a couple of months ago.
02:18And I believe today that he is a serious leader who has thought deeply about India's future prosperity and security,
02:25not just for the rest of his time in office, but over the next century.
02:29And I want to end by making a simple, overarching point.
02:33We are now officially one quarter into the 21st century, 25 years and 75 years to go.
02:43And I really believe that the future of the 21st century is going to be determined by the strength of the United States-India partnership.
02:53I believe.
02:59I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful.
03:09But I also believe that if we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity.
03:17So I want to say it's clear to me, as it is to most observers, that President Trump, of course, intends to rebalance America's economic relationship with the rest of the world.
03:29That's going to cause, fundamentally will cause, profound changes within our borders and the United States, but of course with other countries as well.
03:37But I believe that this rebalancing is going to produce great benefits for American workers.
03:44It's going to produce great benefits for the people of India.
03:47And because our partnership is so important to the future of the world, I believe President Trump's efforts, joined, of course, by the whole country of India and Prime Minister Modi, will make the 21st century the best century in human history.
04:03Let's do it together.
04:04God bless you and thank you for having me.
04:08God bless you.