CEOs shower praise on India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets them in US

Ahead of his first face-to-face meeting with United States President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with top American CEOs from five different key sectors and expressed his vision and his plans to expand India.

The CEOs of Qualcomm, Adobe, First Solar, General Atomics and Blackstone praised the Indian prime minister after the one-on-one meetings.

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Here is what they had to say about India:

Qualcomm
CEO: Cristiano E Amon

PM Modi began his engagements with a "productive interaction" with President and CEO of Qualcomm Cristiano E Amon and highlighted the vast business opportunities in India.

"It is a great meeting…we are so proud of our partnership with India," Amon said after the meeting with PM Modi.

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As India is pushing for the 5G technology to be safe and secure, the meeting with chip giant Amon is of great significance as the San Diego-based company creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology.

A world leader in 3G, 4G, and next-generation wireless technology innovations for more than 30 years, Qualcomm is now pioneering its way to 5G with a new era of intelligent products that are revolutionising industries, including automotive, computing and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Adobe
CEO: Shantanu Narayen

PM Modi interacted with Shantanu Narayen, the President and CEO of Adobe and they spoke about Adobe's ongoing collaboration and future investment plans in India.

Discussions also focused on India's flagship programme Digital India and the use of emerging technologies in sectors like health, education and R&D.

"PM Modi believes that technology is the way to help things move forward," said Narayen after the meeting.

They discussed continued investment in innovation and both emphasised creating few centres of excellence in AI in India.

The Adobe CEO appreciated the efforts of India in fighting Covid and particularly in the rapid vaccination.

First Solar
CEO: Mark Widmar

During his meeting with Mark Widmar, the CEO of First Solar, PM Modi discussed India's renewable energy landscape. They talked particularly about India's solar energy potential and the country's target of 450 GW electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030.

Mark Widmar described as outstanding and also elaborated on why he is optimistic about closer business relations with India, especially in manufacturing. He also expressed happiness with the Indian policies for climate change and related industries.

PM also spoke about India's green hydrogen mission as both CEO and PM agreed on the enhancement of the manufacturing of solar in India. This will also benefit the countries in the region.

General Atomics Global Corporation
CEO: Vivek Lall

PM Modi and Vivek Lall spoke about strengthening the defence technology sector in India. Lall appreciated the recent policy changes to accelerate defence and emerging technology manufacturing and augment capacity building in India.

After the meeting, Vivek Lall said, "Confidence and policy reforms coming out of India."

Modi's meeting with Lall is significant as General Atomics is not only the pioneer in military drone technologies but also the world's top manufacturer of state-of-the-art military drones, which the US shares only with its key allies and partners.

Blackstone
CEO: Stephen Schwarzman

During his interaction with Schwarzman, the chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, PM Modi talked about the company's ongoing projects in India and their interest in further investments in the infrastructure and real estate sectors.

It is important to note that Schwarzman is CEO of one of the world's leading investment firms investing capital on behalf of pension funds, large institutions and individuals.

In March this year, Blackstone announced that funds managed by Blackstone Real Estate have acquired Embassy Industrial Parks from Warburg Pincus and Embassy Group, in one of India's largest logistics transactions.