Did Musk meet Modi as a CEO or US govt official? Trump thinks it's the former

US President Donald Trump believes Elon Musk met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi because he wanted to do business in India.

Trump, after announcing "reciprocal tariffs" on Thursday (Feb 13) was answering the questions of reporters.

The US president stressed that "India is a very hard place to do business in because of the tariffs".

"They have the highest tariffs...It's a hard place to do business. I would imagine he met possibly because he is running a company, he is doing this as something that he has felt strongly about for a long time," Trump said.

Trump also announced reciprocal tariffs the same day before his meeting with Indian PM Modi.

In an escalation on trade issues, Trump further said that whatever countries charge the US, America will charge the same, "no more, no less".

For example, if India imposes a 25 per cent tariff on US autos, Washington will have a 25 per cent tariff as well on imports of autos from India, explained a Nomura report this week.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday (Feb 13) at the Blair House in Washington DC.

Musk, who heads the Donald Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was accompanied by his three children. He also presented PM Modi with a special gift before the discussion.

Taking to his official X handle, PM Modi said that he had a good meeting with Musk, where he discussed issues such as space, mobility, technology, and innovation.

"Had a very good meeting with Elon Musk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance,’" PM Modi wrote on X.

(With inputs from agencies)