New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that he interacted with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Alone Musk, earlier this year, washing the topics from his earlier in-tradition meeting at Washington DC. The two leaders talked about cooperation between India and the United States in the areas of technology and innovation.
PM Modi posted on the social media platform X, “Talked to Elon Musk and talked about various issues, of which we included the subjects included during their meeting at Washington DC.”
This call comes in entering the Indian market amid growing interest from Musk’s companies – especially Tesla and Starlink. Tesla is interacting with Indian officials to establish a manufacturing base in the country. Meanwhile, in March, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio announced an agreement with Musk’s SpaceX to bring Starlink Satellite Internet services to India. Bharti Airtel of Telecom Tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal has also signed a similar partnership deal with SpaceX.
PM Modi and Musk first met during the PM’s two -day visit to the US in February, where both sides expressed optimism about emerging areas such as electric vehicles, renewable energy and future cooperation in location.
During the meeting, PM presented books to three children of Elon Musk. He gifted him as Rabindranath Tagore by Pandit Vishnu Sharma, the great RK Narayan collection and the Ardhachandara Moon by Panchattra. He later shared pictures that show children reading books.
PM Modi shared a post on social media addressed to Elon Musk, where he wrote, “Washington DC had a very good meeting with Elon Musk. We discussed various issues, in which they are emotional about space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts, which is to improve and move forward for ‘minimum government, maximum governance’.
PM Modi-Mascion Call comes at a significant turn when permission for Starlink is stuck for safety approval. It also comes against the backdrop of a conversation for a proposed bilateral trade agreement between New Delhi and Washington.
Both sides have targeted to finalize the first phase of the treaty by the fall (September-October) this year.
Meanwhile, the government has already licensed for rivals of rivals rivals, which are a one-and-a-half-year-old Reticated YouTelts Vanveb and Jio Satellite Communications for a one and a half years to provide satellite internet services.
However, these companies do not have to start their operation yet as the government has not yet finalized the spectrum allocation rules.
The Starlink is considered a disruptive in this segment as it operates the world’s largest constellation of over 6,750 satellites, while the YouTelsat Onewab has more than 600 satellites and Jio’s satellite partner operates around 70.
