Apple CEO Tim Cook on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and exchanged their views on diverse topics.
After meeting the PM, Cook thanked Modi for the warm welcome and said his company is committed to growing and investing across the country.
“Thank you Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India’s future — from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we’re committed to growing and investing across the country," Tim Cook tweeted.
Reacting to Cook’s tweet, PM Modi said he is glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India.
Cook also met Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw and Union Minister of State for Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
After the grand opening of Apple’s first retail store in India at Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Tuesday, Cook is all set to inaugurate its second store called the ‘Apple Saket’ in New Delhi on April 20th. Apple Saket will open for customers on Thursday at 10 a.m. IST.
Apple has long wanted physical retail stores in India. Its original plans for 2021 were derailed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is Cook’s first trip to India in seven years, the last being in 2016 when the tech giant was just beginning to scale up operations in the country.
The new stores come at a time when Apple is trying to deepen its retail push in India, the world’s second largest smartphone market. India is also home to factories that produce 5 per cent of total iPhones as Apple diversifies its supply chains away from China.
Cook arrived in the national capital on the second leg of the visit on Wednesday. He went around the crafts museum and the famous Lodhi Art district on Wednesday ahead of opening the company’s second official retail store in the country.
“Delhi’s Lodhi Art District is a remarkable public space. Congratulations to the St+art India Foundation and so many amazing artists for capturing Indian life so powerfully. And thank you to Dattaraj Naik for showing me how you design your murals on iPad," 62-year-old Cook tweeted.
The walls of buildings lined up in the entire area don beautiful murals that the city is famous for.
Cook, who had started the India visit by having Mumbai’s famous vada pav with Bollywood queen Madhuri Dixit on April 17, then visited the National Crafts Museum and Hastkala Academy.
The tech giant company co-founded by Steve Jobs completes more than 25 years in India this week.
