Elon Musk’s China visit sparks furious backlash in India: ‘He’s canceled on us’

Elon Musk has angered many in India after visiting China just days after canceling a planned trip to the country.
India and China, two of the world’s economic giants, have an intense rivalry as they battle to attract business from around the world.
Musk was due to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.
They were set to unveil a $3 billion car plant investment in the country, but Musk canceled due to “very heavy Tesla obligations”.
His comments came as thousands of Cybertrucks were recalled due to safety issues.
READ MORE: ‘Frustrated’ Tesla Cybertruck owner finds more issues with vehicle
Musk then went to China on Sunday where he met with Premier Li Qiang, securing a breakthrough that could enable Tesla to sell its driver assistance package in the country.
But Indian news channels were not impressed, as reported by Reuters.
The Mirror Now news channel ran with the headline “Shoddy ethics or simply business?” while the news anchor said: “Here in India everybody was shocked.”
News9, meanwhile, said: “Hello China, Goodbye India?” while the phrase “VERY HEAVY TESLA OBLIGATIONS? China visit a week after canceling India” was placed on the screen.
Prime Minister Modi would have been hoping that a Musk visit could help boost his credentials as Indian elections get underway. Modi remains all but certain to win the vote.
But Modi’s opponents have seized on the Musk snub to try and discredit him.
Shama Mohamed, the national spokesperson of the main opposition Congress party, said: “Such is the lack of faith in the Modi govt’s regulatory policies, that big businesses are turning to China over India repeatedly.”
Political satirist Akash Banerjee, who runs a YouTube channel ‘The Patriot’, said: “Do you think Modi will forgive Musk from his heart?”
Musk’s visit to China comes amid intense competition between Tesla and Chinese EV manufacturer BYD.
BYD passed Tesla as the world’s biggest EV producer earlier this year.
But the competition between the two companies has forced both into price cuts that could hurt their bottom line.