Vance to meet Modi, Meloni during trip to India and Italy with wife Usha

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President JD Vance and his family will travel to Italy and India this week and next to meet with leaders and visit cultural sites.

Vance's office said Wednesday his trip from Friday to April 24 will include visits to Rome and New Delhi along with the Indian cities of Jaipur and Agra.

The trip comes as Vance has taken on a prime role in the White House's engagements abroad. The Republican vice president and his wife, Usha Vance, traveled to Greenland last month, and he went to Paris and Munich in February.

President Donald Trump is expected to make his first foreign trip in May to Saudi Arabia.

In Rome this week, Vance is expected to meet with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is due to visit the White House on Thursday. Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, will also meet with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, according to his office, and is expected to participate in ceremonies around Easter Sunday.

Vance's visit to India marks his first trip to the country, which has added significance for the second family. Usha Vance is the daughter of immigrants from South India.

While in India next week, Vance is expected to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who met with Trump at the White House in February.