WEF Davos 2018: Modi holds global CEO meet, says India means business

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a roundtable meeting with the CEOs of top global companies ahead of this year's World Economic Forum.

Addressing a roundtable before a dinner meet, Modi narrated India's growth story.

He was accompanied by top government officials including Vijay Gokhale, Jai Shankar and Ramesh Abhishek.

Under the tagline of "India means business", the roundtable was attended by 40 CEOs of global companies and 20 from India.

"Narrating India's growth story and presenting exciting opportunities for global business in India at #Davos, PM @narendramodi hosted a roundtable meeting with CEOs of top global companies," Ministry of External Affairs said in a tweet.

The Indian Prime Minister will also interact with CEOs of Indian companies separately.

Several Indian corporate chiefs including Tata Group chairman N Chandrashekhar, ICICI Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Wipro's Azim Premji, Reliance Group chairman Mukesh Ambani are a part of the Indian contingent which is estimated to have crossed the century mark.

Earlier in the day, Modi held a bilateral meeting with Swiss President Alain Berset who greeted the prime minister with a warm handshake in this town in the Swiss Alps before leading the Indian leader to the meeting.

This is Modi's second visit to Switzerland in nearly two years after his visit in June 2016.

Modi is the first Prime Minister from India to participate in a forum meeting in two decades after the then Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda in 1997.The main event in Davos will be the keynote speech of Modi at the plenary session on Tuesday.

Modi will interact with 120 members of the International Business Council, which is a part of the WEF.

Modi, in the course of his 24-hour visit to Davos, is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Sweden Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Tuesday.