New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with billionaire businessman Elon Musk at the White House today.
PM Modi’s meeting with the Tesla and SpaceX owner will happen before the prime minister hold bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump.
The prime minister reached Washington DC on Wednesday night.
PM Modi and Elon Musk have met several times. PM Modi also toured the Tesla facility in San Jose during a visit in 2015. The Tesla CEO had given him a personal tour of the Tesla plant.
Their upcoming meeting is likely to be different. Elon Musk has traversed a long way from 2015 when he was a supporter of the Democratic Party.
He has emerged as a close ally and trusted adviser of President Trump and, in a concession from the President, he appeared in a joint news conference in the Oval Office on Tuesday with his son Xa and dominated the interaction demonstrating the clout accorded to him by the President.
The billionaire has toyed with the idea of launching a more affordable model of the all-electric Tesla car in India. But it’s not clear if he is still interested or would like to talk about something else.
PM Modi has in the past met American business leaders during every trip in an ongoing attempt to attract foreign investment in India. These meetings have sometimes taken place in bilateral settings or in a group.
The meeting with Elon Musk today will be one-on-one.
Elon Musk is overseeing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with a focus on slashing federal programmes and regulations.
PM Modi’s discussion with the world’s richest person is expected to centre on AI policy, Starlink’s expansion into India, and Tesla’s ability to open a plant in the country, a US government official said told news agency IANS.
