Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Friday told a delegation of top Indian businesspeople that he sees "trending positive" India-US relations, and himself "strongly favourable" to an "upscaled" trade partnership between the two. He made this remark at SpaceX's Starbase facility in Texas.
Indian entrepreneurs, led by India Global Forum (IGF) to mark the UK-headquartered policy and events platform's expansion into the US this week, toured the company's cutting-edge space exploration facilities and witnessed the successful launch of SpaceX's Starship Flight 7.
Musk told a moderated discussion that there was scope for even greater cooperation between the US and India, especially in the fields of technology and space exploration.
“Things are trending positive. I’m certainly in favour of lowering trade barriers to increase commerce between the US and India,” Musk was quoted as saying during the session.
He went on to describe India as “one of the ancient civilisations and a very great and very complex one”.
The entrepreneur behind car giant Tesla and social media behemoth X has met Indian business chiefs from diverse sectors to discuss how technology is redefining everything and India's growing role in the global innovation landscape.
The meeting comes days before the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President for a second term on Monday and Musk's proposed role in his top team as co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)."This event is a testament to the increasing need for cooperation between India and global trendsetters for a sustainable, technology-led future," said IGF Founder Manoj Ladwa.
"As the world's most powerful democracy transitions to a Trump presidency, meaningful dialogue is more important than ever in these challenging times," he said.
"At India Global Forum, our mission is to bring together global leaders and innovators to tackle the defining challenges of our time. I believe India's rise presents limitless opportunities, and this meeting signifies the potential for powerful partnerships," he added.
The IGF delegation to Musk's Starbase in Texas comprises the following persons - Prashant Ruia, Director Essar Capital, Jay Kotak, Co-head Kotak811, Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO, OYO; Kalyan Ram, CEO-Flipkart Aryaman Birla, Director-Aditya Birla Management Corporation Pvt. Ltd, Nilesh Ved, Chairman of Apparel Group Amish Tripathi among many others.
It came after a series of closed-door discussions on Thursday with members of the incoming Trump administration and key US stakeholders and policymakers, including Jacob Helberg – the Designated Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the new American administration.
The discussion, scheduled for IGF's US launch, also touched upon the American economic landscape, discussing the possibilities in digital infrastructure, tech, innovation, and foreign investment, while showing ways to improve bilateral cooperation.
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