Moalims

CALIFORNIA – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day swing through Silicon Valley - the first time an Indian head of state has been in California in 33 years - has commanded the attention of top tech CEOs.

The Indian prime minister met Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai and Apple's Tim Cook, among others, to seek stronger ties and investment in India.

Facebook is wooing Modi as it looks to expand in the potentially lucrative Indian market and the tech giant has launched an effort to connect Indians to the Internet through Internet.org, but that has met with resistance from some in India who say the project unfairly favours the giant social network and other services.

The visit has also brought out Modi's critics, some of whom protested outside Facebook's headquarters. Critics say Modi's digital push could impinge on the privacy and the rights of Indians, others allege his government suppresses dissent and religious freedom.

The Indian prime minister also touched on several topics, pitching his "Digital India" agenda and vowing to improve education for girls and open up more opportunities for women. "If we want to achieve our economic goals, then we cannot do that if we imprison 50 per cent of our population inside our homes," he said.

After Facebook, Modi paid a visit to Google's Mountain View, California headquarters, where Pichai showed him demos of Google technology such as Street View and Google Earth. He also secured a pledge from Google to provide Wi-Fi in hundreds of Indian railway stations.

News Reference