As part of his historic three-day state visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Tesla CEO and Twitter founder Elon Musk. After the encounter, Musk told reporters, “I’m a fan of Modi.”
His visit to the USA led to good ties with Elon Musk, as he promised that the electric carmaker would be in India “as soon as humanly possible”.
While touring the Tesla Motors facility in California in 2015, the Prime Minister first got to know Musk.
Musk was questioned about the automaker’s interest in the Indian market during an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Of course, he answered.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted after his meeting with Musk, “Great meeting you today @elonmusk! We discussed a wide range of topics, from energy to spirituality. It was an honor to meet again, Musk retorted.
A few days prior to Mr. Modi’s meeting with Mr. Musk, who is also the owner of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of the social media platform, accused India of threatening to shut down the platform if it did not comply with its requests that content be removed from the website.
The Indian government vehemently refuted Mr. Dorsey’s accusations, calling them “an outright lie” in an interview with an independent news program.
Mr. Musk commented on the episode on Wednesday and said that Twitter didn’t have a choice but to obey local governments or “we will get shut down.”
“We will do our best to provide the freest speech that is possible under the law,” he said.
Additionally, Mr. Musk identified himself as a “fan” of Mr. Modi and asserted that India held “more promise than any other large nation in the world.”
As it seeks to penetrate the local market, Tesla has been in discussions with Indian governments and bureaucrats.
Last month, Reuters reported that Tesla had suggested building an electric vehicle factory and was also looking into producing EV batteries in the nation. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a government minister, had told the agency in May that “they are very seriously looking at India as a production and innovation base.”
Last year, the company’s first intentions to establish a base in India were canceled as the Indian government required Tesla to produce cars there rather than exporting them to the country first to gauge demand.
Mr. Musk expressed his desire to expand the Starlink satellite internet service, run by his business SpaceX, to India.
It will certainly involve a sizable investment in our relationship with India, he told reporters, adding that we don’t want to reveal anything too soon.
The three-day state visit by Mr. Modi, which is being hailed as a turning point in the bilateral relationship between India and the US, began on Tuesday.
Before having face-to-face conversations with President Joe Biden on Thursday, he will receive a formal welcome at the White House.
More than 70 US congressmen wrote to Mr. Biden on Tuesday, encouraging him to bring up the subject of human rights with Mr. Modi while in India. They expressed worry over increasing religious intolerance, press liberties, and the persecution of civil society organizations in India.
