As US President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office as the 47th President of the United States, an unusual sight is the gathering of tech leaders on the dais inside the Capitol.
Indian-origin Sundar Pichai, head of Google, Inc. is prominently visible next to Tesla CEO Elon Musk along with other high-profile leaders, and some of the biggest names in the US IT industry – Apple’s Tim Cook, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
Trump is being administered the oath of office by Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court John Roberts.
Pichai is gaining eyeballs in India due to the prime seat next to Musk and the Trump family.
Earlier, Pichai had commented on Trump’s incoming presidency saying “I think there are real areas where I think he’s thinking about and committed to making a difference”. He said this during the New York Times DealBook Summit.
Influential Indians at Trump ceremony
Other than Pichai, a host of influential Indian figures, from top government officials to business tycoons, are attending Trump’s swearing-in ceremony in Washington DC.
Among the attendees are Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Reliance Industries’ Mukesh and Nita Ambani, and several real estate developers with ties to Trump’s ventures in India.
Jaishankar is officially representing India at the ceremony, and is also carrying a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to present to President Trump, in a move to strengthen Indo-US relations.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, and his wife, Nita Ambani, are among the p prominent business figures attending Trump’s inauguration. They arrived in Washington DC on January 18 to participate in the inaugural functions. The couple was among the Indian business leaders invited to a “candlelight dinner” a day before the inauguration. At the pre-inauguration dinner, the Ambanis posed for pictures with industry leaders and Trump.
Among real estate leaders, Kalpesh Mehta, founder of Tribeca Developers and licensed partner for Trump Organization in India, is attending, as is Pankaj Bansal, Managing Director of M3M Developers, involved in the Trump Towers projects in Gurugram. Ashish Jain, Managing Director of Pune-based Kundan Spaces, is also present.
