Modi US Visit: PM Meets US Investors, Experts

NEW DELHI: On the first leg of his US visit at the invitation of President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met prominent investors, academicians and experts from different fields, including Tesla founder and Twitter chairman Elon Musk, in New York on Wednesday. After the meeting, the Tesla CEO asserted that India has more promise than any other large country and that he is incredibly excited about its future.

During a media interaction over his meeting with the PM, Mr Musk said that he is a fan of Modi. According to agency reports, Musk said that Modi "really cares about India because he is pursuing us to make significant investments in India".

Responding to a question, the Twitter chairman also said that his company will follow the laws in any country and that "we will do our best to provide the freest speech that is possible under the law".

"The best we can do is to follow the laws in any given country," he said, adding that it is impossible for "us to do more than that".

Asked if Tesla would enter the Indian market, Musk said he is planning to visit the country next year, adding, "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible. I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his support and hopefully we will be able to announce something in the not-so-distant future."

"We do not want to jump the gun on an announcement, but I think it is quite likely that it will be a significant investment in our relationship with India," Musk said, adding that India is great for solar energy investment.

In a brief statement on the meeting, New Delhi said, "The Prime Minister appreciated Musk’s efforts at making technology accessible and affordable in various sectors. The Prime Minister invited Musk to explore opportunities in India for investments in electric mobility and rapidly expanding commercial space sector.’’

In other separate meetings, Mr Modi also met distinguished American mathematical statistician, academician, public intellectual and author Nicholas Taleb; American Buddhist scholar, author and Padma Shri awardee Robert Thurman; American investor, author and co-founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio; leading American astrophysicist, author and science communicator Neil de Grasse Tyson; American economist, policy entrepreneur and Nobel laureate Paul Romer.

"Modi complimented Taleb on his success as a public intellectual and for bringing complex ideas of risk and fragility into popular conversation. In his conversation with Taleb, the Prime Minister also highlighted the risk-taking abilities of India’s young entrepreneurs and the growing start-up ecosystem in India," New Delhi said.

On the meeting with Thurman, the ministry of external affairs said, " The Prime Minister and Mr Thurman exchanged perspectives on how Buddhist values can act as a guiding light for finding solutions to global challenges. They also discussed India’s Buddhist connection and efforts being made by India for the preservation of Buddhist heritage."

In his conversation with Dalio, New Delhi said, "The Prime Minister highlighted the reforms undertaken by the government to foster economic growth, including the reduction of compliances and decriminalisation of a large number of legal provisions. The Prime Minister invited Dalio to further invest in India."

On the meeting with Tyson, New Delhi said, "The Prime Minister and Tyson exchanged views on inculcating scientific temperament among youth. They discussed at length India’s rapid progress in the space sector, including various space exploration missions being undertaken by India. The Prime Minister and Tyson also discussed opportunities for private sector and academic collaboration under India’s newly launched National Space Policy."

On the meeting with Romer, New Delhi said, "The Prime Minister and Romer held discussions on India’s digital journey, including the use of Aadhar and innovative tools like Digilocker. They also discussed various initiatives being undertaken by India for urban development."

Modi also met Indian American singer, composer and Grammy award winner Falguni Shah and lauded her song ‘Abundance in Millets’ which raises awareness regarding healthy and environmentally friendly millets. The PM also appreciated Shah for bringing the people of India and the USA together through her music".

The ministry of external affairs said the PM also met a group of eminent US academics hailing from diverse fields of agriculture, marketing, engineering, health, science & technology. "They discussed possibilities of enhancing research collaborations and two-way academic exchanges under India’s New Education Policy. The Academics shared perspectives and experiences from their respective areas of expertise with the Prime Minister."

The academics included chair of the board Chandrika Tandon of NYU Tandon School of Engineering, president of Pennsylvania State University Neeli Bendapudi, chancellor of the University of California, San Diego, Pradeep Khosla and president of the University at Buffalo Satish Tripathi.

The PM also met experts from several leading US think tanks in New York and discussed a range of developmental and geopolitical issues. The various think-tank experts who participated in the interaction include president-designate and distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Michael Froman and vice-president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute Daniel Russel.

Modi also met a group of leading US experts from the health sector and discussed various matters, including the use of digital technologies for quality healthcare, a greater focus on integrative medicine and better healthcare preparedness. The experts included the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas, Peter Hotez and the CEO of ViroVax, based in Texas, Sunil A. David.