US V-P JD Vance, family reach Jaipur; to visit Amber Fort Tuesday

US Vice President JD Vance reached Jaipur from Delhi along with his family on Monday night and is set to visit the Amber Fort in the city the next day.

He is set to deliver a lecture on US-India relations at Rajasthan International Centre (RIC) on Tuesday. The US vice president, his wife Usha Vance, and their three children -- Ewan, Vivek and Mirabel -- are staying at Hotel Rambagh Palace.

They are scheduled to leave for Agra on Wednesday morning and then return to Jaipur in the afternoon as he is scheduled to visit the City Palace here.

The Vance family will depart for the US early Thursday morning.

 

Tight security arrangements have been put in place across the city for the vice president's visit. A Rajasthan government official said Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma reviewed the preparations for the visit in a meeting on Saturday.

He had directed officials to make all preparations to make the Vance family's Jaipur visit memorable.

The official said the family will be welcomed in traditional Rajasthani style with two elephants being trained at Hathi Gaon near Amber for their welcome.

The Amber Fort palace, a UNESCO world heritage site, was closed to visitors for 24 hours from 12 noon on Monday, an official of the state's Department of Archaeology said.

One of the top tourist attractions of the Pink City, the 16th-century fort sits atop a small hill, about 11 km from the main city. It is an extensive palace complex built with pale yellow and pink sandstone and white marble.

In New Delhi earlier in on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US vie president held wide-ranging talks to enhance cooperation in areas of defence, energy and technologies. Modi hosted the Vance family over dinner at his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence after the official talks.