Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk at the Blair House in Washington, where the billionaire businessman gave him a special gift. Musk gifted a heatshield tile from SpaceX’s Starship Flight Test 5. The memento, inscribed with the mission date of October 13, 2024, generated a lot of buzz.
SpaceX Heatshield Tile
Musk, accompanied by his partner Shivon Zilis and three children, gifted the hexagonal ceramic tile, which played a crucial role in protecting Starship from extreme heat during atmospheric re-entry. The October 2024 test flight was a milestone for SpaceX. It successfully captured the Super Heavy booster at the launch site—an aerospace breakthrough.
It was also a delight to meet Mr. @elonmusk’s family and to talk about a wide range of subjects! pic.twitter.com/0WTEqBaVpT
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2025
PM Modi’s Gift to Musk’s Children
In return, PM Modi gifted Musk’s children three Indian literary classics:
The Crescent Moon by Rabindranath Tagore
The Great RK Narayan Collection
Panchatantra by Pandit Vishnu Sharma
Photos tweeted by the Prime Minister revealed Musk’s kids reading these books.
Conversations on Space, Technology, and Mobility
PM Modi wrote about the topics they discussed in an X post, saying, “Had a very good meeting with Elon Musk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.”
Had a very good meeting with @elonmusk in Washington DC. We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.’ pic.twitter.com/7xNEqnxERZ
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 13, 2025
He also shared his pleasure in meeting Musk’s family and having substantial discussions on a variety of subjects.
A Growing Partnership
This is the second high-profile encounter between the two leaders. In 2015, PM Modi had taken a tour of the Tesla campus in San Jose, where he was personally briefed by Musk himself. Their new conversation confirms India’s increasing cooperation with global technology innovators in space research, electric transport, and digital change.
