SAN FRANCISCO -- For a change, Silicon Valley is buzzing about something other than a sleek new device, technical breakthroughs or a precocious billionaire.
A rare visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this weekend has captivated the many Indian immigrants in the area and commanded the attention of major U.S. technology companies eager to extend their reach into a huge overseas market.
It will also give Modi, a Hindu nationalist elected to office last year, an opportunity use the world's high-tech capital as a pulpit to promote his plan to transform India into a hub of innovation. He envisions a "Digital India," where ubiquitous high-speed Internet access will empower entrepreneurs to build software and other technology products that will raise the standard of living in a country where most households are impoverished.
"He's like a rock star over here," said Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow at Stanford University's Rock Center for Corporate Governance who has studied Silicon Valley and its reliance on immigrants in its technology-driven workforce. "He really does seem to understand the significance and importance of tech."
Modi faces criticism, despite his popularity. A group of more than 100 college professors and other academics across the U.S. have posted an letter on the Internet warning people to beware of Modi's digital push because it could be an attempt by the government to monitor private communications and suppress dissent.
"A lot of this is just very good public relations management," said Thomas Blom Hansen, a Stanford University anthropology professor who has been studying India for 25 years. "All we are saying is, 'Hang on, it's not as well as it looks.'"
Modi's government has raised privacy fears with a proposal that would have required Internet users to save unencrypted copies of their texts and posts on social networks, an idea that Wadhwa describes as a blunder conceived by lower-level bureaucrats in India.
Another group called "Sikhs For Justice" is offering $10,000 to anyone who confronts Modi with two questions about perceived threats to religious freedom in India at an appearance scheduled Sunday morning at Facebook's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters.
Modi's arrival today will mark the first time an Indian head of state has been in California in 33 years, turning his appearance into a cause for celebration among the tens of thousands of Indian immigrants living and working in Silicon Valley.
His appearance Sunday at a free community event in San Jose will pack the SAP Center, an arena with 18,000 seats. More than 45,000 people had requested tickets.
Event organizers now believe Modi might have been able to fill the nearly 70,000 seats at Levi's Stadium, which last month hosted sold-out concerts by pop singer Taylor Swift -- one of only a few dozen people in the world who has amassed a bigger audience on Twitter and Facebook than Modi.
President Barack Obama is the only elected leader more popular on those influential networks than Modi, who boasts more than 15 million Twitter followers and more than 30 million Facebook fans. Modi regularly shares his thoughts on both communication channels.
Before he meets with Obama in New York on Monday, Modi will be discussing his digital agenda with some of the technology's biggest stars. He is due to dine today with a coterie of CEOs that includes Apple's Tim Cook and two native Indians, Microsoft's Satya Nadella and Google's Sundar Pichai. His itinerary also includes Sunday's meeting alongside Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a test drive with Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk in one of the company's trend-setting electric cars and a stop at Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.
Business on 09/26/2015