Why Nadella's visit could be more beneficial to India than Cook's

If there was one thing the two had in common during their visit, it had to be a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

(From left) Tim Cook, CEO, Apple and Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. Photo: IANS, PTI

The month of May saw two of top global tech CEOs arrive in India. While there was a lot of fanfare around Apple's CEO Tim Cook's four-day visit to India, Satya Nadella's visit on Monday was lower key.

If there was one thing the two had in common during their visit, it had to be a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, that is where the similarities end.

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Cook’s meeting with PM Modi was centered towards pushing the government to give it more access to grow its presence in the country with a population of over 1.2 billion.

One of the requests was to give a go ahead for refurbished phones in the Indian market. A request which was gently turned down Modi as he asked Cook to contribute to the 'Make in India' initiative.

Another agenda on Apple CEO's plate was to get the 30% local sourcing norm waived off, an impediment to its production in India. This request however has got support from Ministry of Commerce, Nirmala Sitharaman and said will take up the norm with Finance Ministry.

However, Nadella's meeting with PM Modi was more centered towards support for the initiatives such as Startup India and Digital India. The discussions revolved around various issues pertaining to the IT sector and its support.

"Discussed various issues pertaining to the IT sector with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella," Modi had tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Nadella discussed with Prasad how Microsoft's contribution to the government's Digital India initiative can be enhanced.

"It's not about celebrating our technologies. It's about celebrating technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster the ingenuity of what is happening in India," Nadella said at the Microsoft conference he spoke at on Monday.

He even quoted a verse of Mirza Ghalib and asked entrepreneurs from India to be bold and offered the platform of the US-based technology giant for their ventures.

While both came with their own agendas, Cook's seemed to gravitate towards what he wants from India, while Nadella's seemed more supportive of India's growth.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS)

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