'They just put him in the grandfather category': Usha Vance on her kids' bonding with PM Modi

Second Lady of the United States Usha Vance recalled her family's visit to India, which garnered international headlines, and recounted her children's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While recounting the experience, she said that her children -- Ewan, Vivek, and Mirabel -- were jet-lagged after travelling through Europe when they met PM Modi. 

She said that the kids struck an instant connection with the Prime Minister. "They saw an Indian man with a white beard and white hair, and they just put him in the grandfather category," she said at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum in Washington, D.C.

Usha said that Modi solidified his 'grandfather' status by giving her 5-year-old son Vivek a birthday present on the day of their visit. 

“They are very into him; they just love him, and he really cemented his status by giving our five-year-old a birthday present that day. When we were able to visit his home, they just sort of ran up. They were hugging him. He was just incredibly kind and generous to them.”

She also said that one of their sons told PM Modi that he could maybe live in India. 

“When we were at the Prime Minister's residence, our 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,” Usha Vance said. 

Furthermore, she said that her children talk about the Vance family's India visit all the time and that it was special to them. A standout feature of the entire trip for the kids was a traditional puppet show featuring acts from parts of India, including from Andhra Pradesh, where Usha Vance's family hails from. 

“There were bits from the Ramayana, there were comedic bits with animals, and it was a huge hit. My kids have been trying to recreate it at home with construction paper.”

In April this year, US Vice President JD Vance came to India along with his family on a four-day visit after completing his visit to Italy.

On the first day of his visit, he met PM Modi and discussed ways to bolster cooperation in energy, defence and strategic technologies and welcomed the progress in the negotiations for a mutually beneficial India-US bilateral trade agreement. 

While the discussion between Modi and Vance was crucial, the Vance kids' equation with the Prime Minister was the highlight of this meeting. The Vance family also visited Jaipur and Agra as part of their India visit.

His visit, however, was cut short on April 23 due to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists.