Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Silicon Valley to advertise hi-tech vision
Modi said he is working to reduce government regulation of business and crisscross the country with fibre optic networks.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted the power of social media and his own goals for developing India's tech economy on Sunday, speaking to a global audience from a “town hall” meeting at the headquarters of the world's largest social network.
Modi also vowed to improve education for girls and “bring more women into decision-making” in his country, while responding to a handful of questions during a carefully orchestrated session led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
“The strength of social media today is that it can tell governments where they are wrong and can stop them from moving in the wrong direction,” Modi said, in remarks translated from Hindi by an interpreter.
“We used to have elections every five years and now we can have them every five minutes,” added Modi, who is known for using both Facebook and Twitter to communicate with millions of followers.
Sunday's hour-long session came during a whirlwind tour of Silicon Valley that included two days of meetings with the CEOs of Apple, Google and other leading tech companies, along with local political leaders and an estimated 18,000 people who attended an “Indian community reception” at a San Jose sports arena.