Apple CEO Tim Cook meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: The Apple CEO Tim Cook met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today.

Congratulating the Prime Minister on the recent election results,Cook talked about his visit to India, and said he had been received with great warmth. He spoke about his visit to different parts of the country, and his meetings with people including youth, business leaders, and film actors. In particular, he mentioned his visit to the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, and watching a cricket match.

The Prime Minister, appreciating Cook, said that in India, ‘seeing is believing’ and added that these experiences would definitely steer Cook’s business decisions.

Cook shared Apple Inc.’s future plans for India. He spoke on the possibilities of manufacturing and retailing in India. He appreciated the breadth of young talent in India, and said the youth have significant skills which Apple would like to tap. He mentioned the immense potential for ‘app-development’ that exists in the country.

He also elaborated on the Map Development Centre that Apple Inc. is setting up in Hyderabad. He appreciated the Prime Minister’s initiatives in ‘ease of doing business.’

Cook also appreciated the Prime Minister’s initiatives for renewable energy. He said Apple runs on 93 per cent renewable energy, and spoke of plans to move Apple’s entire supply chain to renewable energy. Delegation members accompanying Cook also spoke of their experiences in rural Rajasthan, where several villages have recently been electrified, and women are being skilled to assemble and operate solar energy equipment.

Both Cook and the Prime Minister shared some unique stories of entrepreneurship that they had come across in app-development and renewable energy.

The Prime Minister explained his Digital India initiative, and identified three key objectives of Digital India as e-education, health and increasing farmers’ incomes. He sought support from Apple in furthering these objectives.

Issues regarding cyber-security and data encryption also came up for discussion. The Prime Minister encouraged  Cook to help the global community to cope with the challenges of cyber-crime.

Tim Cook also launched an updated version of the ‘Narendra Modi Mobile App.