India’s conquest of America’s Silicon Valley is an old story; but what lends it resonance is how the leaders of the world’s digital revolution are reaching out to India like never before, thanks partly to a digitally-savvy Prime Minister who has become a poster boy of the new economy. Not even China’s President Xi Jinping, who too met the tech czars at a dinner with US President Barack Obama, seemed to have such a mesmeric effect on these CEOs, who lined up to give Narendra Modi a remarkable reception. The who’s who were there, including Microsoft’s India-born boss Satya Nadella, Adobe’s Shantanau Narayen and Google’s Sundar Pichai, while Apple’s Tim Cook met the PM at his hotel and Mark Zuckerberg hosted a “town hall” meeting at his Facebook campus.
The significance of Mr Modi’s whirlwind two days in the Valley lies in some immediate gains for India: Qualcomm announcing a '10 billion ($150 million) India-specific fund for start-ups and Google making it simpler for more Indians to enjoy the Internet experience, with its plans to soon launch the capability to type in 10 Indian languages on mobiles as well free wi-fi at 500 railway stations. Just about every major tech giant unfurled schemes for Digital India, the enabler of governance as well as disseminator of knowledge inputs across the country, including for farmers. Critics of the PM’s frequent foreign trips, with many lining up to protest against the $200 million-plus spent in a year and a half, may have to take a breather as we savour the stupendous opening of doors, galvanised and made possible by the personality and direct push by Prime Minister Modi.
With Indians now the biggest Internet users on mobiles, the freer access to the emerging “Internet of Everything” will give them a technological edge in many things, including diagnostic healthcare, farming, fishing and myriad other activities. The fruits of this staggering sweep of a technology-driven Digital India in touching lives and enabling knowledge and skills will become apparent in due course. The point to note is that the nation is in a better position to keep abreast of the world thanks to this two-day initiative of the PM’s visit to the hub of creation. The jobs created in India to enable this big drive promise to bring greater security and prosperity to thousands of lively young tech-driven minds on Indian soil itself. The imagery of the days of Indian leaders going around with a begging bowl for aid around 50 years ago has become history. The new world now wants India, and Mr Modi has harnessed that spirit splendidly.
