By Syed Khalique Ahmed
NEW DELHI–The postponement of his planned trip to India by Tesla chief Elon Musk has become a matter of debate among political circles.
Political analysts say that tech billionaire has postponed his trip to ensure that his visit is not used to gain political mileage by the ruling party as the Parliamentary elections have begun in India. The first phase of polling for 102 seats was held on Friday.
Musk was scheduled to visit India on April 21 and 22 during which he was to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi is known to use every opportunity to promote his personal image and to gain political advantage.
Political experts say that visit of Musk to India at this juncture and hold a meeting with Indian PM regarding investment plans for his companies – Tesla, a company manufacturing electric car and SpaceX, a satellite internet operator – would have given an opportunity to BJP to claim credit for foreign investments with a view to influence voters.
According to media reports, Musk was to announce an investment of about $2.3 billion in India.
The reason Musk gave for his postponement of India visit is “very heavy Tesla obligations.” However, he has not announced the new date.
Media reports say that Musk broke the news of suspension of his India visit through a post on X platform, and not through formal communication to PM’s office.
Why did Musk chose to adjourn his visit abruptly and declare it through social media platform is a mystery? In Indian context, this is considered rudeness and discourtesy. Whether one admits or not, this is highly contemptuous to a sovereign country with a population of more than 1400 million people and known all over as world’s biggest democracy.
If Musk wanted to defer his visit for whatever reasons, he could have announced it through proper official channels of the Indian government.
If India needs foreign investment to boost its economy, Musk also needs newer markets for his products after the electric car sales have gone down in the US and China. Because of India being the largest country in terms of population and a huge number of Indian citizens having potential to buy electric vehicles, India is a big market for Tesla.
