With The New York Times reporting that billionaire businessman Elon Musk participated in a phone call on Tuesday with US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday that “the telephone conversation on March 24 was between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump only”.
MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen the story. The telephone conversation on 24 March was between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump only. As has been stated earlier, it provided the opportunity for exchange of views on the situation in West Asia.”
It is extremely rare and unusual to have a private citizen – however influential or wealthy they might be – to be part of phone conversations between world leaders.
During the meeting or calls, however, there are moments when family members of world leaders do participate sometimes – depending on the context. For example, Modi had met US Vice President J D Vance with his family members in France last year.
In fact, when Musk had met Modi in the US last year, he was accompanied by his then partner, kids, and their nanny.
The NYT reported that “It is unclear why Mr. Musk was on the call or whether he spoke”.
It said that Musk has “looked to India as a potentially lucrative market for his automotive, space and artificial intelligence companies. Tesla, his electric automaker, had previously faced hurdles to selling vehicles in India because of tariffs on foreign manufacturers. Starlink, the satellite internet provider from Mr. Musk’s SpaceX, is awaiting final clearances to operate in the country and is still ‘pending regulatory approval,’ according to a company website.”
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For context, his companies have taken on “significant investment from sovereign wealth funds in countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Mr. Musk has also long coveted a greater commercial presence in India. And SpaceX, his private rocket company, has been considering an initial public offering later this year, which could be thrown into turmoil if global economic conditions worsen.”
“The inclusion of Mr. Musk, confirmed by two U.S. officials, suggests that the world’s richest man is back on better terms with the president. The two men had a falling out last summer following the billionaire’s departure from the government, where he had been tasked with slashing the work force. They appear to have smoothed things over in recent months,” it said.
It said that the call, American and Indian officials have said, was about the escalating crisis in the Middle East, and in particular the Iranian military’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical for the shipping of oil and gas around the globe. The halt to most maritime traffic through the strait has led to surging energy prices worldwide and roiled markets. Some Asian nations are on the verge of having to ration fuel.
On March 24, a day after he paused for five days his threat of striking Iran’s energy sites and announced initiation of talks behind the scenes with Tehran, US President Trump called up Prime Minister Modi Tuesday and had discussed the situation in West Asia, including the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.”
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This was their first call since the start of the war on February 28, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran.
Modi, in a post on X, said, “Received a call from President Trump and had a useful exchange of views on the situation in West Asia. India supports de-escalation and restoration of peace at the earliest. Ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open, secure and accessible is essential for the whole world. We agreed to stay in touch regarding efforts towards peace and stability.”
The news of the call was first disclosed by Sergio Gor, US ambassador to India, who, in a post on X, said, “President Donald Trump just spoke with Prime Minister Modi. They discussed the ongoing situation in the Middle East, including the importance of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.”
With both sides underlining the importance of the Strait of Hormuz and keeping the waterway open, it signalled the concern over disruption in global energy supply chains.
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The Strait of Hormuz is a key channel through which 20 per cent of the global energy supply – and the majority of gas supply from Qatar – passes in large carriers. Qatar, UAE, Kuwait have all been negatively impacted by the closure of the Strait, and that has led to a global rise in prices of oil and gas, and impacted the supply of cooking gas in India and other countries.
Musk and Trump
Musk’s role and relationship with Trump has gone through ups and downs.
“While he helped elect Mr. Trump and played a significant role in cutting the federal bureaucracy last year, Mr. Musk does not have a government position. In the first months of the administration, he had the title of ‘special government employee’ while overseeing a group known as DOGE that tried to make deep cuts to federal operations and spending, which led to tensions between Mr. Musk and other senior Trump aides,” NYT said.
As per NYT, Musk did not return multiple requests for comment this week. The White House declined to comment on Musk’s inclusion.
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The US embassy in Delhi, when contacted, also redirected queries to the White House.
“President Trump has a great relationship with Prime Minister Modi, and this was a productive conversation,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, as per NYT.
On X, the social media platform he owns, Musk has been relatively quiet on the war in Iran. Last week, in response to a post that questioned why so many countries relied on the Strait of Hormuz as part of their global supply chains, the billionaire wrote: “We got lazy.” A few days later, he shared a meme, suggesting that issues with the strait would slow growth in the artificial intelligence industry and hamper general economic advancement, NYT said.
