PM Modi to hit ground running in NYC, to meet Elon Musk and other top thought leaders

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet billionaire investor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in New York during his State visit to the United States.

In an attempt to enhance people-to-people connect, the prime minister will also meet over two dozen thought leaders from various walks of life today in New York, including Nobel laureates, economists, artists, scientists, scholars, entrepreneurs, academicians, and health sector experts.

The meetings will be aimed at achieving better synergy, understanding the developments in the US, and inviting people to collaborate with India, according to people aware of the matter.

Modi will be meeting Elon Musk for the first time since the tech billionaire took over Twitter Inc. last year and introduced sweeping changes in the platform as well as the company’s content policies.

The top thought leaders who will be holding discussions with the prime minister include renowned American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, senior World Bank official Paul Romer, Lebanese-American essayist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, investor Ray Dalio, and American singer Falu Shah.

The other eminent personalities are Jeff Smith, an author and research fellow in Heritage’s Asian Studies Center, focusing on South Asia; Michael Froman, former US trade representative, former US diplomat Daniel Russel; Bureaucrat Elbridge A. Colby; celebrated American physician Peter Agre, a Nobel laureate; and musical artist Chandrika Tandon. In 2003, Agre received Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery of aquaporin water channels.

Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. They will host Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the joint session of the US Congress on June 22. During the historic State visit, Prime Minister Modi will address a joint session of the US Congress for the second time.