Elon Musk greeted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the president’s guest house before President Donald Trump greeted him ahead of the two leaders’ White House meeting.

Musk met Modi at the Blair House, a guest house across the street from the White House, before Trump met him. Modi is in the United States for two days to meet with Trump to discuss U.S.-India relations.

“Their discussion also touched on opportunities to deepen cooperation in emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, and good governance,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Modi said their meeting also touched on space, mobility, technology, and innovation in India. Musk’s company, Starlink, has long wanted to launch in India, but Musk has clashed with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s company in recent months regarding how India should grant spectrum for satellite services.

The move to meet Modi at Blair House is somewhat unprecedented as Musk has no diplomatic status. However, he has frequently been by Trump’s side during major presidential moments and has met with other world leaders with and without Trump.

In December, Musk joined Trump’s first call after the election with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He also accompanied Trump on his first overseas trip after the election to Paris, where he met French President Emmanuel Macron. He additionally met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in New York, whom he referred to as a “precious genius” and “even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside.”

Musk holds over $15 billion in federal contracts, most of which are between NASA and his company SpaceX. The White House did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment regarding Musk and Modi’s meeting.

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Modi’s visit to Washington comes as India’s relationships with other Western nations remain rocky after Modi refused to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Modi, however, has boasted about the relationship he had with Trump in Trump’s first term and is looking to improve his country’s relations with the West.

Modi’s visit also comes as Trump announced increases in tariffs with U.S. trading partners on Thursday to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, saying on social media, “TODAY IS THE BIG ONE: RECIPROCAL TARIFFS!!!”



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