By Payal Mehta
New Delhi [India], April 19 : In a series of meetings with the Union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has expressed confidence about a long-term working relationship with India.
After the meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Tim Cook on Wednesday tweeted, "Thank you Prime Minister @narendramodi for the warm welcome. We share your vision of the positive impact technology can make on India's future from education and developers to manufacturing and the environment, we're committed to growing and investing across the country."
Prime Minister Modi also tweeted after the meeting saying, "An absolute delight to meet you, @tim_cook! Glad to exchange views on diverse topics and highlight the tech-powered transformations taking place in India."
Government sources said Apple has been praising the stability of India's policy calling it "clearly impressive".
Viewing India as its long-term market, the iPhone manufacturer has expressed interest in expansion plans, including manufacturing the latest products.
Currently, the employment strength of Apple in India stands at 1 lakh. Sources said this is expected to go up to 2 lakh in the coming years.
In terms of the required skilled labour, the Union government stands committed to supplying the required manpower including providing customised requirements. It is in the public knowledge that Gati Shakti Vidyalaya is designing courses for manufacturers. The sources say that such a similar arrangement can also be made for Apple.
Tim Cook is currently in India for the launch of two Apple stores. The first was launched in Mumbai on Tuesday while the second retail store will be launched in Delhi on Thursday.
In another development, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also tweeted about his meeting with CEO Tim Cook.
Late Wednesday, the minister posted, "Met with @tim_cook, CEO, Apple. Discussed deepening Apple's engagement in India across manufacturing, electronics exports, app economy, skilling, sustainability and job creation especially for women. Jointly charting a long-term and strong relationship."
Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar also met the tech giant's CEO on Wednesday.
The MoS tweeted, "It was a delight to meet @tim_cook CEO, @Apple and his team to engage on Apple's strategic and long-term partnership with and in India's digital journey. We discussed deepening and broadening manufacturing, exports, skilling of youth, expanding app n innovation economy and job creation. #NewIndia #IndiaTechade @_DigitalIndia".
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