Modi meets top US CEOs, urges them to be part of the India story

“In the quest for a self reliant and strong India, I consider you as co-travellers and co-participants. I believe India and American tech companies can together play a key role in addressing global challenges… My doors are always open for you. I am a student and learn from you and try to apply it in governance so that India makes rapid strides,” Modi told corporate leaders of the world’s most powerful, richest, and most innovative tech companies at a meeting organised by the MIT School of Engineering in New York on Sunday.

Technology, Modi said, drives the world now but highlighted the need to balance technology and democracy. “The welfare of humanity is guaranteed by the mix of technology and democracy. Technology minus democracy creates an environment for a crisis. India is a country that has talent, democracy, market. Such a golden opportunity is rare that India has today. Many of you are close to India and have experience in India. You can compare it to the rest of the world. And in India you will notice you have a plus one experience”.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Google’s Sundar Pichai, IBM’s Arvind Krishna, Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen, Accenture’s Julie Sweet, Moderna’s Noubar Afeyan, HP’s Enrique Lores, Global Foundaries’ Thomas Caulfield, Verizon’s Hans Vestberg, LAM Research’s Tim Archer AMD’s Lisa Su were among the top chief executives at the meeting.

Modi told the tech CEOs that he had met some of them in the past both in Washington DC in 2023 and in Delhi at different points, and he learnt a lot from all of them, who he called global innovators. He said that their enthusiasm and advice helped in policy formulation. “The advice that you offer, given the world that you work in, you belong to, and whose future you understand, is invaluable.”

Modi then spoke of initiative on critical and emerging technologies (iCET), the bilateral mechanism with US, as an example of their shared commitment to inclusive innovation. He spoke of India’s strength as the fifth largest economy heading to become the third largest economy. “India’s scale, capacity, capability and performance has a uniqueness you can experience. It has one of the most vibrant digital ecosystems. It has the third largest start up ecosystem. It has the largest talent pool of the young.”

Modi then also spoke of his own political and governance model as predicated on policy and policy stability. “You have seen my performance of the past decade. That’s why people have maybe given me a third chance. Our governance is driven by policy. And for any investor, policy stability is important…we offer policy stability and policy predictability. This gives investors and others who want to work in India an assurance.”

In addition, Modi spoke of India’s semiconductor initiatives, its infrastructure, its young population and their attachment to science and technology education, women’s participation in STEM disciplines, centre-state coordination, production linked incentives, skilling initiatives, focus on design, research and innovation, intellectual property rights framework and the democratisation of technology in India. He also offered specific examples of success in India’s electronics industry and global research and development centres including of the companies represented around the table.

Modi also spoke of India’s data protection law, data policy and efforts towards a data governance model. He spoke of India’s push for the ethical use of artificial intelligence and its governance framework and, as an example, said that AI generated trademark could be one way to deal with deepfakes. Modi said that like in aviation, there will have to be an AI framework that is truly global in scale.

Modi also touched on biotechnology and said that there was a fertile ecosystem in India for this where there was both a scientific pool and a diverse gene pool. “I believe if something has been used and worked in India, it can work anywhere else.”

Technology has been a key theme of Modi’s visit to the US, and has found reflection in the Quad statement, in the bilateral joint factsheet with the US, in his address at the UN, in the UN’s Pact for the Future that India too has signed on, in his public remarks to the diaspora, and in his interactions with the business community and chief executives.