In a landmark event, Elon Musk welcomed a delegation of prominent Indian business leaders to SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas. The visit, organized by the India Global Forum (IGF), offered an exclusive glimpse into SpaceX’s cutting-edge space exploration infrastructure and included the successful launch and booster recovery of Starship Flight 7.
The event featured a moderated discussion where Musk underscored the potential for strengthening US-India ties, particularly in technology and space exploration. He advocated for lowering trade barriers to enhance bilateral commerce, stating, “Things are trending positive. I’m certainly in favour of increasing trade between the US and India.”
Reflecting on India’s heritage, Musk noted, “India is one of the ancient civilizations, a very great and complex one.”
The delegation, representing sectors such as technology, renewable energy, and manufacturing, engaged with Musk on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and space partnerships to India’s emerging role in global innovation. The discussion highlighted the potential for Indian businesses to collaborate with SpaceX and other Musk-led ventures, including Tesla and Neuralink.
Musk elaborated on SpaceX’s mission, stating, “The goal of SpaceX is to expand the scope and scale of consciousness, to better understand the universe and ask the right questions.”
He also shared insights on the development of Grok, his AI project: “We’re confident that Grok 3 will soon become the most sophisticated AI in the world.”
Manoj Ladwa, founder of India Global Forum, described the event as a testament to the importance of collaboration between India and global innovators. “This underscores the need for partnerships, bold ideas, and shared purpose to shape a sustainable, technology-driven future,” he said.
Ladwa also emphasized India’s rise as a global power: “As the world’s largest democracy, India presents limitless opportunities. This meeting highlights the potential for transformative partnerships to address today’s defining challenges.”
The IGF delegation included a diverse group of Indian leaders:
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
Amish Tripathi, Author
The event symbolized the growing collaboration between Indian innovators and global pioneers like Musk in addressing shared challenges and advancing technological innovation on a global scale.