Prime Minister Narendra Modi said only US President Donald Trump hold copyright to the word “deal”, when asked if any potential business talks were part of his meeting with tech billionaire Elon Musk.
When asked the question during a press conference after a meeting with Trump, PM Modi said, “I have known Elon Musk for a long time. Today, he came to meet me with his family and we had a conversation in a family setting.”
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Musk, a close ally of Trump, met PM Modi at the Blair House in Washington, the US President’s guest house. He was accompanied by his three children – X, Strider and Azure – and Neuralink director Shivon Zilis. Musk gifted PM Modi a Starship hexagonal heatshield tile, while the latter gifted his children classic Indian books like Panchtantra and ‘Crescent Moon’ by Rabindranath Tagore.
“Had a very good meeting with Elon Musk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’,” he wrote in a post on X.
About the meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement that said the duo discussed ” strengthening collaboration between Indian and US entities in innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence and sustainable development”.
Reuters had earlier reported that Starlink’s entry in the South Asian market was likely to come up for discussion during the meeting between PM Modi and Musk.
PM Modi arrived in the US for a two-day visit on Wednesday, his first visit to the country after Trump’s second term as President began. Ahead of the Prime Minister’s departure to India, the two leaders held a press conference, where they announced 2008 Mumbai attacks convict Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India, deportation of illegal immigrants and a deal to export US oil and gas to India, among other proposals.
