Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on Tuesday that India has more promise than any other major nation and that he is tremendously optimistic about its future. Modi is currently on his United States tour meeting several dignitaries.
The social media behemoth that Musk owns, Twitter, told reporters following his meeting with Modi that it had no choice but to follow the local government. When questioned about the recent claim made by the business's former chief executive officer and owner Jack Dorsey against the Indian government, he responded, "Or it will be shut down."
"The best we can do is to follow the laws in any given country," he said, adding that it is impossible for "us to do more than that".
There are different rules and regulations for different forms of governments, and "we will do our best to provide the freest speech that is possible under the law", Musk said.
Asked if Tesla will enter the Indian market, Musk said he is planning to visit the country next year. "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and will do so as soon as humanly possible," he said.
"I would like to thank the prime minister for his support and hopefully we will be able to announce something in the not so distant future," Musk said.
"We do not want to jump the gun on an announcement but I think it is quite likely that it will be a significant investment in our relationship with India," the Tesla CEO said.
In a separate video statement, Musk also lauded Modi, saying he "really cares about India because he is pursuing us to make significant investment in India." "I am a fan of Modi," he said.
India is great for solar energy investment, Musk added, describing his talks with the prime minister as excellent.
On his meeting with Musk, Prime Minister Modi tweeted, "Great meeting you today @elonmusk! We had multifaceted conversations on issues ranging from energy to spirituality." To this, Musk replied,"It was an honour to meet again."
Modi, who is visiting the US from June 21-24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, is meeting over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians and health sector experts.
Besides Musk, they include astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson, Nobel laureate economist Paul Romer, author Nicholas Nassim Taleb and investor Ray Dalio.
Modi is also scheduled to observe the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations headquarters here with the UN leadership and members of the international community.
Representatives of over 188 countries are expected to attend the exercise.
On June 22, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host Modi at a State Dinner. The visit also includes an address by the prime minister to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22.
(With PTI inputs)
