Tech billionaire Elon Musk on Friday told a delegation of prominent Indian business figures at his SpaceX Starbase facility in Texas that he believes India-US relations are in a “positive trend” and that he is looking for an increased cooperation between the two countries. Hui is in favor of business partnership.
To mark the expansion of the UK-headquartered policy and events platform to the US this week, Indian entrepreneurs led by the India Global Forum (IGF) toured the company’s state-of-the-art space exploration facilities and witnessed the successful launch of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7 .
During a moderated discussion, Musk emphasized the possibility of deeper cooperation between the United States and India, especially in the technology and space exploration sectors.
“Things are going positive. I’m certainly in favor of reducing trade barriers to increase trade between the US and India,” Musk was quoted as saying during the session.
He described India as “one of the ancient civilizations and a very great and very complex civilization”. The entrepreneur behind automotive major Tesla and social media platform X interacted with Indian business leaders from across sectors on the role of technology and India’s growing role in the global innovation landscape.
The meeting comes just days ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US President for a second term on Monday and Musk’s proposed role in his top team as co-chairman of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“This event underlines the growing importance of collaboration between India and global pioneers in shaping a sustainable and technology-driven future,” said Manoj Ladwa, Founder, IGF. “As the world’s most powerful democracy prepares for a Trump presidency, meaningful conversations are more important than ever in these challenging times,” he said.
He said, “At the India Global Forum, our mission is to bring together global leaders and innovators to tackle the defining challenges of our time… I believe that India’s rise presents unlimited opportunities, and this meeting Symbolizes the potential of a powerful partnership.”
The IGF delegation at Musk’s Starbase in Texas included Prashant Ruia, Director – Essar Capital; Jay Kotak, Co-Head – Kotak811; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder and Group CEO – OYO; Kalyan Raman, CEO – Flipkart; Aryaman Birla, Director-Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited; Nilesh Ved, President – Apparel Group; and bestselling author Amish Tripathi, among others.
This followed a closed-door discussion on Thursday with members of the incoming Trump administration and key US stakeholders and policymakers, including Jacob Helberg, the designated undersecretary for economic growth, energy and environment in the new US administration. The dialogue held for the US launch of the IGF also addressed exploring opportunities in the US economic landscape, digital infrastructure, technology, innovation and foreign investment, while highlighting ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
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