Apple CEO Tim Cook meets PM Modi, says committed to growing and investing across India

Ahead of the company's second official retail store opening in India, Apple CEO Tim Cook met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday. Cook stressed that the 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.

PM Modi also highlighted India's digital transformation during the meeting.


"An absolute delight to meet you, @tim_cook! Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India," he tweeted.

Cook will attend the opening of a second store in the capital Delhi on Thursday.

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.

Apple Chief Executive is on the second leg of his India visit, where he went around the crafts museum and the famous Lodhi Art district ahead of opening the company's second official retail store in the country.

Cook, who began his India visit on April 17, met badminton greats including Gopichand and Saina Nehwal, visited Akanksha Foundation school that teaches children from low-income communities, and toured the Indian School of Design & Innovation in Mumbai after the launch of Apple's first retail store in the city.

This is his 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.

Apple has long wanted physical retail stores in India. Its original plans for 2021 were derailed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With inputs from PTI