Trending positive: Elon Musk on India-US trade ties

Tech billionaire Elon Musk told a delegation of leading Indian business figures at his SpaceX Starbase facility in Texas on Friday that he believes India-US ties are “trending positive” and that he favours an enhanced trade partnership between the two nations. The Indian entrepreneurs, led by India Global Forum (IGF) to mark the UK-headquartered policy and events platform’s expansion into the US this week, toured the company’s cutting-edge space exploration facilities and witnessed the successful launch of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7. During a moderated discussion, Musk emphasised the potential for deeper collaboration between the United States and India, particularly in the technology and space exploration sectors.

“Things are trending positive. I’m certainly in favour of lowering trade barriers to increase commerce between the US and India,” Musk was quoted as saying during the session.

He went on to describe India as “one of the ancient civilisations and a very great and very complex one”.

The entrepreneur behind automotive major Tesla and social media platform X interacted with Indian business chiefs from across diverse sectors on the role of technology and India’s growing role in the global innovation landscape.

The meeting comes just days before the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President for a second term on Monday and Musk’s proposed role in his top team as co-chair of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “This event underscores the growing importance of collaboration between India and global pioneers in shaping a sustainable and technology-driven future,” said IGF Founder Manoj Ladwa. “As the world’s most powerful democracy transitions to a Trump presidency, meaningful dialogue is more important than ever in these challenging times,” he said.

“At India Global Forum, our mission is to bring together global leaders and innovators to tackle the defining challenges of our time… I believe India’s rise presents limitless opportunities, and this meeting signifies the potential for powerful partnerships,” he added.

The IGF delegation to Musk’s Starbase in Texas included Prashant Ruia, Director – Essar Capital; Jay Kotak, Co-Head – Kotak811; Ritesh Agarwal, Founder & Group CEO – OYO; Kalyan Raman, CEO – Flipkart; Aryaman Birla, Director – Aditya Birla Management Corporation Private Limited; Nilesh Ved, Chairman – Apparel Group; and bestselling author Amish Tripathi, among others.

It followed a set of closed-door discussions on Thursday with members of the incoming Trump administration and key US stakeholders and policymakers, including Jacob Helberg – the Designated Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the new American administration.

The dialogue, organised for IGF’s US launch, also addressed the American economic landscape, exploring opportunities in digital infrastructure, tech, innovation and foreign investment, while highlighting ways to strengthen bilateral collaboration.