PM Modi speaks to Elon Musk days before Vance's India visit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he discussed his country's potential to collaborate with the US on "technology and innovation" during a conversation with Elon Musk.On Friday, Modi shared a post on X detailing his telephone conversation with the tech billionaire and said they had revisited topics from their meeting in Washington earlier this year.Modi's conversation with Musk comes as India is working towards securing a bilateral trade agreement with the US to offset the brunt of US President Donald Trump's potential tariffs.It also comes days before US Vice-President JD Vance's four-day trip to India.
"We discussed the immense potential for collaboration in the areas of technology and innovation," Modi wrote in his post on X.He added that India remained "committed to advancing our partnerships with the US" in these domains.Musk, who is seen as being close to Trump and also heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), is looking at making inroads into India with his business plans. In March, Starlink signed an agreement with two of India's biggest telecoms firms to bring satellite internet to India and is awaiting government approval to start providing its services.Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entryMusk v Ambani: Billionaires battle over India's satellite internetTesla could also finally be making its debut and has begun hiring for a dozen jobs in Delhi and Mumbai. It is also reportedly hunting for showrooms in both cities.Meanwhile, Vance is set to meet Modi on 21 April, the first day of his trip, for discussions on economic, trade and geopolitical ties.He will be accompanied by his children and wife Usha Vance whose parents migrated to the US from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.The visit comes against the backdrop of an intensifying trade war between the US and China.Trump slapped India too with 27% US tariffs on 2 April, before he announced a 90-day pause.Since then, Delhi and Washington have been working towards an early conclusion of trade negotiations.Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
10 hours ago
- The Independent
Brazil strikes deal with Musk's Starlink to curb criminal use in the Amazon rainforest
Brazil's Federal Prosecutor's Office announced Friday a deal with Elon Musk's Starlink to curb the use of its services in illegal mining and other criminal activities in the Amazon. Starlink's lightweight, high-speed internet system has rapidly spread across the Amazon, a region that for decades struggled with slow and unreliable connectivity. But the service has also been adopted by criminal organizations, which have used it to coordinate logistics, make payments and receive alerts about police raids. It's the first agreement of its kind aimed at curbing such use following years of pressure from Brazilian authorities. Starlink, a division of Musk's SpaceX, will begin requiring identification and proof of residence from all new users in Brazil's Amazon region starting in January. The company will also provide Brazilian authorities with user registration and geolocation data for internet units located in areas under investigation. If a terminal is confirmed to be used for illegal activity, Starlink has committed to blocking the service. The deal is for two years and can be renewed. Illegal gold mining has contaminated hundreds of miles of Amazon rivers with mercury and disrupted the traditional lives of several Indigenous tribes, including the Yanomami. Starlink, which first arrived in the region in 2022, has enabled criminal groups to manage mining operations in remote areas, where logistics are complex and equipment and fuel must be transported by small plane or boat. 'The use of satellite internet has transformed the logistics of illegal mining. This new reality demands a proportional legal response. With the agreement, connectivity in remote areas also becomes a tool for environmental responsibility and respect for sovereignty,' federal prosecutor André Porreca said in a statement. Illegal gold miners and loggers have always had some form of communication, mainly via radio, to evade law enforcement. Starlink, with its fast and mobile internet, has significantly enhanced that capability, Hugo Loss, operations coordinator for Brazil's environmental agency, told The Associated Press in a phone interview. 'They've been able to transmit in real time the locations of enforcement teams, allowing them to anticipate our arrival, which seriously compromises the safety of our personnel and undermines the effectiveness of operations,' Loss said. 'Cutting the signal in mining areas, especially on Indigenous lands and in protected areas, is essential because internet access in these locations serves only criminal purposes.' Jair Schmitt, head of environmental protection for the agency, said what's also needed is tighter regulation on the sale and use of such equipment. The AP emailed James Gleeson, SpaceX's vice president of communications, with questions about the deal, but didn't immediately receive a response. ___ The Associated Press' climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Reuters
India's Modi to attend next week's BRICS summit in Brazil
NEW DELHI, June 27 (Reuters) - India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Brazil from July 5-8 to attend the BRICS Summit, New Delhi said in a statement on Friday. BRICS, founded as a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to counter Western dominance of the world order, has grown in recent years to include emerging economies such as the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Indonesia.
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Reuters
Breakingviews - AkzoNobel sale flags India's foreign capital angst
MUMBAI, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - What's good for Indian tycoons is not always good for India. Dutch paint maker AkzoNobel ( opens new tab is selling a controlling stake in its local unit to the domestic JSW Group. The deal fits into its goal to focus its global portfolio amid a hypercompetitive market – but it also deepens India's capital outflow woes. The $12 billion maker of the Dulux paint brand on Friday said it would offload, opens new tab up to a 75% stake in Akzo Nobel India to privately held JSW Paints for $1.1 billion. It will retain full control over its local powder coatings business and research unit. The proceeds from the sale will be used to cut debt and buy back shares of the parent. The transaction comes at an opportune time for AkzoNobel, which decided last October to concentrate on coatings in key geographies. It eases the company away from a market shaken up by the entry last year of local tycoon KM Birla's Grasim Industries ( opens new tab, whose discounts to grab market share are hurting the margins of incumbents. It makes financial sense too, valuing Akzo Nobel India at 22 times EBITDA, more than twice the multiple at which the parent's Amsterdam-listed shares trade. Inspired by these sorts of punchy valuations, multinationals in India have been paring stakes in local units. British American Tobacco (BATS.L), opens new tab sold shares in ITC ( opens new tab to raise $1.5 billion last month, and U.S. appliance maker Whirlpool (WHR.N), opens new tab plans to slash its stake in its Indian business to 20% from 51%. Less benign reasons underpin other transactions. Germany's Siemens sold 90% in its loss-making wind turbine division to TPG amidst cutthroat competition. Swiss drugmaker Novartis is looking for a buyer for its Indian operations, which it says are relatively small, opens new tab compared to other geographies. The slate of assets on offer bodes well for Indian founders looking to grow through acquisitions. But it undermines India's vaunted position as a haven for global capital. Net foreign direct investment during the eight months to the end of November 2024 dropped, opens new tab to $500 million from $8.5 billion in the same period of 2023, per data from the Reserve Bank of India. Blame it on repatriations by global firms, which stood at $44.5 billion for the 12 months ended March 2024, having risen every year since March 2020. Strong valuations aren't exactly bad news. But if they wind up making India look less of a magnet for global capital, they're not uniformly good news either. Follow Shritama Bose on Linkedin, opens new tab and X, opens new tab.
