 "Prime Minister Narendra Modi gestures upon his arrival at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York")
Can a possible solution to India’s power problems be rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs, designed by Tesla? The question is not merely rhetorical. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to meet Tesla Motors’ Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk during his weekend trip to Silicon Valley in California.
However, the crowning glory of his trip is expected to be not a Tesla dealership for India (unlikely with high import duties, as well as current infrastructural challenges) but a community reception which has 48,000 people registered for a pass.
The reception is being organised by the Indo American Community of West Coast (IACWC), a non-profit, with the stated mission of promoting cooperation between the United States and India.
Roughly $900,000 is being spent on the event, with about $20,000 kept in reserve for unforeseen expenses. That is also roughly the amount raised by the community. The average cost of a house is $815,900 in San Jose , where the reception is being held.
SAP Center is home to the San Jose Sharks, the American professional ice-hockey team based in the city. The indoor arena has a capacity of 17,496. 48,000 people have registered for passes, double the number of seats available. IACWC has distributed 18,500 tickets.
The crowd is expected to spill into the arena, to the neighbouring park. The organising committee says it is expecting people who have not registered for the event to also show up. Close to 1,200 volunteers have registered to help, along with some 500 organisations and industry bodies.
Other than cell phones, electronics will not be allowed which means no laptops, tablets or even cameras. There will be a blackout period for electronic cameras when Modi would enter the arena.
While the Press Information Bureau of the government of India has been tight-lipped about Modi’s agenda, the PM is scheduled to see some recent technological innovations at Tesla, as well as Alphabet, a company formerly known as Google. Modi will also be addressing a renewable energy roundtable with the United States department of commerce and Stanford University.
His Facebook page has 30,294,497 likes at the time of writing (his relationship status is “single” in case you were wondering, while the “work info”, ironically, is blank).
Modi will be joining Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg for a Townhall Q&A at the company’s Menlo Park headquarters on Sunday. Discussion areas are expected to include the role of communities in effecting social and economic challenges, as well as issues specific to India.
He might be sporting a Movado watch but that is beside the point. Modi is also expected to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook, as well as Shantanu Narayen, the CEO of Adobe, along with members of various industry bodies, business and technology thought leaders, as well as start-ups and companies in the renewable energy space.
It has been 33 years since an Indian PM visited the Bay area. A lot has changed since, especially in the world of bits and quantum bits. The Valley is now considered innovation capital of the world, and it is some of this innovation that Modi seems to want to export back home. The popular sentiment here appears to be that the PM is not looking as much for investment as technology or innovation that can “disrupt” the country.
It is not political beliefs or religious ethics but the economics of technology and the business of commerce, that seems to be defining Modi’s US visit, and what the enthusiasm seems to be about. While there is defensiveness about religious minorities and freedom of the press, the overall mode and mood seems to be business reforms.
There are technology professionals in the Valley who oppose, even vehemently oppose, Modi’s emphasis on right-wing religion (India is constitutionally at least, still secular), but simultaneously agree the country might change economically and develop better under the new leadership. Especially as he seems to know the right words to say — digitisation, smart cities, reduced carbon footprint and renewable energy. Meanwhile, there are only 16 Indian Institutes of Technologies for roughly 1.2 billion people.
Sudarshana is part of the international relations team at H/F, and editor of the technology site TechTaffy.
