Indian media expressed surprise and anger this week after Tesla CEO Elon Musk canceled a planned visit to India and instead made a surprise visit to China.
India’s opposition parties, hoping to make headway against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the ongoing long-running parliamentary elections, have jumped at the opportunity to argue that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies are alienating foreign investors. did.
Musk was scheduled to visit New Delhi last week to meet with Prime Minister Modi, announce a new $3 billion Tesla car factory and discuss plans to import Tesla to India.
As recently as April 10, Musk said he was looking forward to traveling, but suddenly canceled the trip. explain Concisely Posted on April 20th “Due to very heavy obligations to Tesla, I have to postpone my visit to India, but I look forward to visiting later this year,” he wrote on his social media site X.
next weekend, mask Popped Up He visited Beijing for an unannounced visit, including a meeting with Premier Li Qiang. China has given Tesla the long-awaited approval for internet-linked self-driving features in its cars, and Chinese search engine giant Baidu has announced a deal to provide navigation data to the system.
Indian media, particularly those often critical of India’s rival China, were outraged by Musk’s disdain. Quote According to Reuters on Tuesday,
News channel Mirror Now ran a prime-time news segment with the tagline, “Shoddy ethics or just business?”, with the anchor saying, “Everyone here in India was shocked.”
Digital news service News 9 aired a segment about Musk late Monday night called “Hello China, Goodbye India?” Then a message flashed on the screen: “Very heavy Tesla duty?” China visits a week after India’s cancellation. ”
Neither Tesla nor Mr. Modi’s office responded to requests for comment. Musk said on April 20 that he is looking forward to visiting India later this year, but the Indian government has not commented on his cancellation or his visit to China.
Had Mr. Musk gone ahead with his original plan and announced billions of dollars of investment in India after his meeting with Mr. Modi, he clearly would have given Mr. Modi and his party a boost during the Congress. Dew. election, which begins on April 19th and continues until mid-May. Given India’s huge size and population, the elections were held in multiple stages.
Mr. Musk’s disdain is therefore a thorn in the side of India’s opposition parties, mocking Mr. Modi for meekly allowing the Tesla billionaire to flee to China without a single objection, and Mr. Modi’s India He suggested that it may not be as attractive to foreign companies as the prime minister claims.
The Indian National Congress (INC, commonly known as the “Congress”) is the largest opposition party.
Another Congress leader, P. Chidambaram MP. Said Musk blowing off Modi’s visit to China and further investment in India’s rival country was something voters “should have thought about”.
Mr Chidambaram said Prime Minister Modi was “privately furious and publicly claiming that the Indian government is a Majibhut Sarkar”..” Majibhut Sarkar It stands for “strong government,” and Congress members have been deriding Modi as a hardliner who prides himself on his strength while cowering in the face of insults from the likes of Elon Musk.
“It was strange for Elon Musk to come all the way to India to meet the outgoing Prime Minister. He too read the writing on the wall and decided to postpone his visit.” Said Congress Communications Secretary Jairam Ramesh hinted that Mr. Musk believes that Mr. Modi will lose this election.
If that happens, the opposition government will be “more aggressive in promoting electric vehicles” than Prime Minister Modi, Ramesh said.
“I’m a user myself!” he added.
Mr. Modi appeared to be the heavy favorite heading into the election, but outside observers read signs and omens during the lengthy voting process as several major controversies erupted that could change expectations. I’m having a hard time.some observers Infer It’s Mr. Modi’s turn. stronger rhetoric Opposition to India’s Muslims may be a sign of desperation, as the BJP sees early poll results as displeased.
As for Congress’s claim that Musk’s disdain for Modi suggests foreign investors are shifting from India to China. global trends We are still heading in the opposite direction as international companies seek to “de-risk” their supply chains by reducing their dependence on Chinese manufacturing.
of economic times indian guessed Musk’s large investments in China have made him increasingly at the mercy of the Chinese Communist Party, he said on Tuesday. The editorial notes that Mr. Musk’s public statements tend to be violently belligerent toward most governments, including the Biden administration in the United States, especially when he sees them as hostile to free speech. However, he pointed out that Musk has an aggressive, subservient, and enthusiastic attitude toward China. “Cheerleader” for the world’s worst censor.
Seen from this perspective, Musk’s mad dash to Beijing rather than New Delhi may be the result of the Chinese Communist Party joining forces to threaten his interests in a way they know they would never do in India. . Faced with the potential loss of Tesla sales due to Chinese regulations, he knew his $3 billion investment would still be welcomed in India a month later, no matter how the election went. Mr. Musk made an unfortunate but logical choice.
of indian era (TOI) I got it. Tesla said it was going through a “tumultuous” period as “lower EV sales led to significant cost-cutting efforts, including cutting more than 10% of our global workforce.”
The unrest has further strengthened the Chinese Communist Party’s influence over Musk, which it sees as a “welcome antidote to the tough negotiations between US officials that unfolded during the Secretary of State’s recent visit.” , were keen to take advantage of this. Anthony Blinken. ”
“Mr. Musk’s deepening ties with China reflect a broader trend among major U.S. tech companies to leverage China’s huge market and manufacturing capabilities while becoming increasingly dependent on Chinese policy and economic changes. ” Toi Said.
of wall street journal (WSJ) saw The situation is dire after Musk announced that he would not be traveling to India. Mr. Musk wants India to ease its Tesla deal, and his recent moves make clear that he will take a tough stance on whoever sits in the prime minister’s office after this election.
Tesla is expected to benefit from India’s bid to attract global electric car manufacturers announced last month. The new policy will reduce import duties on cars valued at more than $35,000 from 100% to 15% for manufacturers that invest at least $500 million in domestic factories and meet certain other conditions. Tesla has long sought tariff relief for its cars as a prelude to ramping up its investment plans in India.
Mr Musk’s change of plans marks another setback in long-running negotiations between India and the electric vehicle pioneer to enter the world’s third-largest car market, raising questions about Tesla’s India plans. There is. Two of the company’s longtime top executives who left the company last week included at least one who traveled to India to negotiate market access with officials in New Delhi.
Another factor mentioned by both Indian and foreign Musk detractors is that China’s rulers want high-tech entrepreneurs, both home-born and foreign, to gain undue influence over the Chinese people. This means that they are extremely nervous about this.
To allay their fears, people in Beijing sometimes like to crack the whip. It is about forcing the tech giants into a gesture of submission and explicitly acknowledging that they have ultimate power over everything, including technology that the party barely understands. Forcing Elon Musk to insult rival India and then rushing to Beijing for a command performance and renewed rapturous applause against the Chinese establishment is exactly the kind of obedience ritual the party enjoys. .
