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Confronted by outrage in Greenland, the US has scaled down a proposed visit to the island.
US Vice President J D Vance will now join his wife Usha on a trip to Greenland, the semi-autonomous Arctic island which Donald Trump has been belligerently eyeing since he took over in January.
The visit which originally included the Second Lady, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Energy Secretary Chris Wright raised a shrill outcry in Greenland. Protests had been planned by locals during Usha Vance's visit between Thursday, March 27 and Saturday, March 29.
Though VP Vance, who accused Greenland of not being a good ally, was not part of the delegation initially, he will now lead the delegation. However, the trip has been scaled down considerably. The US visit will be confined to the US military base on the northwest coast of the island.
The delegation had originally planned to visit historical sites and attend a dog sled race. A trip to Nuuk, the capital, and the picturesque town of Sisimiut has been cancelled, according to the Sermitsiaq newspaper in Greenland.
The newspaper reported that the bulletproof cars that had arrived for the delegation's travel on the island had been loaded onto a US Hercules plane and sent back to the States.
Another European media report said Vance and party will fly straight to the military base and return. There will be no public appearance.
It has been debated and criticised if the American delegation, including senior members of the Trump administration, should travel around as tourists, without an official invitation from Greenland's government, the Naalakkersuisut, at a time when a new administration has not yet been formed after the elections, reported Sermitsiaq.
Greenland is the largest island on the map situated between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
It was first a colony of Denmark and was later integrated with the Danish State.
The island has been a part of Denmark for nearly 300 years and lies around 3,000 km distance away.
Its capital Nuuk is closer to New York than to Copenhagen.
The sun does not set at all in Greenland for two months between May 25 to July 25.
July is the only month when temperatures rise above freezing point.
The longest day of the year June 21 is a national holiday in Greenland.
The official language in Greenlandic.
Denmark ruled Greenland as a colony until 1953, when the island achieved greater powers of self-governance. In 2009, it gained more powers pertaining to minerals, policing and courts of law, but Denmark still controls security, defence, foreign and monetary policy.
Greenland also benefits from Denmark's European Union and NATO memberships, reported CNN.
Why Trump covets Greenland
The US regards Greenland crucial for its security and strategic interests.
The US has a military base on the island's northwest coast. It is America's northernmost defence outpost.
The US Thule air base was built secretly in 1951. It is said to have taken the same amount of effort as building the Panama Canal.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly spoken about taking over the semi-autonomous, mineral rich island and US Vice President J D Vance accused it of not being a good ally.
Donald Trump Jr, POTUS' eldest child, visited Greenland in January. Vance's wife Usha Vance is scheduled to visit Greenland this week.
Greenland offers the shortest route from North America to Europe. This gives the US a strategic upper hand for its military and its ballistic missile early-warning system. These waters are a gateway for Russian and Chinese vessels, which Washington aims to track, reported Al Jazeera.
The visit was seen as 'provocation'
Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede, who turned 38 on March 11, had called the visit a provocation.
'Such interference is a breach of our democratic principles and shows a lack of respect for our self-determination,' Egede told local broadcaster KNR, adding Greenland's allies needed to be more forceful in their statements, reported Reuters.
'We have not yet seen any of our allies make a clear statement. And we need our friends among nations. That is why they must come out more clearly -- there is no other way. The vague declarations must end,' the Reuters report added.
After the US visit was scaled down, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said, 'This is clearly a de-escalation. I think it's very positive that the Americans cancelled their visit to the Greenlandic society. Instead, they will visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,' he said according to a Reuters report on March 27.
US National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the United States has a vested interest in the Arctic, and so a visit to the US Space Base to get first-hand briefings from service members on the ground should not be a surprise, reported the BBC.
In a January opinion poll, more than 80 Greenlanders rejected being a part of USA.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com. Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com