City's partnership with India. A loud round of applause for them please.
Well, just before we kick off, I wanted just to say a huge thank you to everyone for joining us. And this particular conference was in many ways a bit of the brainchild of the finance minister who when I met her last year said I want to have a monsoon Davos. I challenge you to organize that. And thanks to you all joining us. It is wonderful to be able to connect the world and India, India and the world. And part something that the city is incredibly proud but very grateful that you are here for and Mumbai delivered some rain yesterday. So we did we delivered as we said we would do.
Thank you Jane for coming to India and being part of the conference. It means a lot to us as a franchise and also to all our clients. Thank you.
It's really wonderful being back. As you know, I love being here.
Absolutely. Yeah. So, you know, it's been a little over 24 hours that you've been in India and you've already done what two cities. You came into Bombay, was there in Bombay for a few hours, then went to Delhi and then you're back in Bombay. Yesterday, we met the prime minister, Mr. Modi. You had a good one-hour conversation with Mr. Modi. You actually covered a lot of topics in a very engaging manner and a lot of these topics are very relevant for India as well as for the world. We would love to get your perspective as you look back in terms of like you know what are the few big takeaways that you know you have from that meeting for the benefit of all of us.
Well, as you can imagine, for Balor and I to spend almost an hour with him was a real privilege and we covered a multitude of different topics. I think one of the main pieces we're talking about was the role that India plays and from certainly my perspective the remarkable story over the last few years particularly since COVID of the transformation of so many different industries thanks to many of the people at this conference in the room and the fact that the long-term story in India is very much intact. He gave me a couple of very clear messages in terms of the commitment to the reform agenda continuing, the important role that the private sector plays and the support that he will certainly be continuing to give different industries going forward. We also talked about the huge transformations that's occurred, digitization in particular, what's going on in AI, the role that the big data center builds that are going on here and the large investments that have been made by Google, Microsoft, AWS. We always talk Foxconn but there's a lot of other big investments that are happening on the AI infrastructure and for a country with so much talent in the technology space. You know, there's going to be some pretty exciting things ahead in that application layer as well as the benefits of the investment. We talked about energy security and a lot of the things the government is doing to help manage through the challenges that have been faced from the Middle East war that's going on and the situation between us and the Gulf States and Iran. So a very wide ranging conversation, but Bala, you were there too. What were some of your takeaways?
My main one remains the same which is you know the long-term India story is intact. And so yep some short-term headwinds but I just said to one of the preeminent newspapers here India's got to stop selling yourself short guys. Come on.
You know, I think the one thing I really liked about it was the honesty in which you know the conversation was, the transparency that was there between you and Prime Minister Modi and the fact that you know he said everything is not rosy. There are few challenges but then he had a very clear vision and thought in terms of like you know what are the few priorities that the government is focused on. You talked about energy security clearly that is something that you know the government is super focused on. You talked about digitization that is something that is very core to his heart and like you know the amount of work that the country has done on that front and the businesses that have been built on top of the India stack and the way in like you know these people have gone and raised money this is all credit to the prime minister's vision in terms of like you know putting the entire business in place.
He's pretty good at execution too.
Absolutely and then also when you talked about your trip across Rajasthan 7 years back on the glass panes that you saw and he said that you know when he was a young kid he was always thinking about how to and he said in Hindi how to convert registan to a money-making proposition and then he went on to explain in terms of like you know how the renewable energy focus is and how that has basically made India self-sufficient from an energy perspective. So I think I quite like the vision I like the transparency and but it's grit as you say gritty and grounded, not high-flutin. And that I think should give everyone confidence and a lot of comfort.
Yeah. You've been traveling quite a bit Jane. And I know that you were in France earlier this week and I know that you'd met President Macron. Yeah. There is a G7 meeting that is happening later this month and in fact Prime Minister Modi mentioned that you know he's going to be part of that G7 meeting. Unfortunately like you know we are living in a very volatile world. There is a war happening in Europe. There is a war happening in Middle East. Tariff has still overhang that is yet not gone away. So from your perspective based on your interaction with President Macron and other leaders, what are the big priorities that you know we are focused on? What are the few things that G7 is going to cover when they meet later in June?
I had the privilege of spending some time with President Macron and I asked him what's he hoping to get because they're the president. They have presidency of the G7 summit and of course Prime Minister Modi and President Macron are pretty close. So I think rightly he will focus the G7 on global imbalances. There are a lot around the world at the moment. And talking about what are we going to do about it and the Middle East will come up within that, some of the tariff situations, the dynamics between the US and China will be in there. But it's also that broader group of allies together. Which I think will bring some balance to the discussion. It's not just the US China discussions but it's much more about what else is going on and what else is everyone doing about it. And we had our investor day recently and I was telling the president one of the lines our head of markets had down is in investing the only free lunch is diversification. And I said it's not a free lunch but it's a very important part of what everyone needs to be driving to. And the recent trade agreement between Europe and India may be a point of pride for India but it's really important for Europe. And so there's a lot that can be done through diversification. And they'll be talking about how to try and make that real as well as talking about how they try and get the upside from AI, not just the challenges. So, I hope it will be a pretty productive discussion. When the cameras are off, the discussion gets much more candid. But they're all in it a bit together. And I think that's a sentiment President Macron wants to try and drive home. In front of the cameras, I'm sure we'll get a slightly different story, but behind the scenes when they start talking to each other, things do tend to get done in my experience.
Excellent. You know, sticking to your travel again, last month, you were actually part of a select set of US United States CEOs who went to China along with President Trump. And this is potentially what in the last eight or nine years the first time that you know a US president has gone to China along with a big group of CEOs going in and like you know talking about what is the relevance and importance of US-China relationship. From your perspective what are the big takeaways and what are the few things that you know world needs to know and India should be aware of.
Yeah, I think be behind the media headlines on it, you know what we saw was two countries that are wanting to make sure that there's economic stability in the relationship. You know, a recognition that whilst China has had a remarkable rise and has huge leadership in multiple different industries and is a truly extraordinary global force that it is actually important that there is stability there in the relationships. They don't need to be utterly fabulous, but they can't be bad. And so there was a lot of work that was being put into that theme of stabilization, making sure that there are good engagement between both on the trade side but also from both sides on the economic front. And the other piece I was pleased to see was you know the small group of us that were there as part of the US delegation. You know we were very much part of the dialogue. You know we were in many of the sessions and there was a recognition that it was fine for American firms to be doing business in China. And there was the support from the administration which I think is a recognition of the economic interdependence. And that's important for the world. It goes both ways. There was no shying away from some of the differences, but they weren't ones that were a source of economic tension as opposed to more of a how do we live with them? And keep going.
We all like we all know about your love for India. If I recollect right, I think you first came to India 30 years back in 96 or 97.
Yeah, 30 years. But I was six at the time.
And I think that was a long that was probably the longest trip that you know you did in India.
Right. Yeah. Yes. And Jane was talking to me about a particular Jain temple in Ranakpur. Frankly, I have not been to that temple, but that's a to-do for me for calendar.
Anyone who hasn't been to the Jain temple in Ranakpur, you're missing one of the great it's the most beautiful building in the world by far. It's amazing and it's fun because there's monkeys running around. You're in the middle of real India rather than, you know, a big city or and there aren't many tourists or there weren't then.
