Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have had an association for at least five years now, and they are now discussing new steps for the post-Covid era.

Pichai, who had in a keynote address welcomed Modi to the Silicon Valley in September 2015, met the PM virtually on Monday morning to discuss economic opportunities during the pandemic. The focus was especially on attracting FDI into India and the role of technology giants in turning around the economy.

A government official confirmed that Pichai and Modi had a conversation without elaborating on it. Pichai is set to address a virtual audience in a talk ‘Google for INDIA 2020’ later on Monday.

The PM had in a recent global conference reiterated that India was laying the red carpet for all international companies and that India was a much better foreign investment destination than many others. He had also clarified that the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme was about self-reliance, but not about shutting out foreign investors.

During his first stint as PM, Modi had visited the headquarters of American corporations and also invited US majors like Facebook and Uber to New Delhi in a big event to celebrate startups.

With Google, India has had many collaborations for government initiatives, including with Indian Railways.