Was Elon Musk Listening In on the Modi-Trump Call?
PM Narendra Modi with Billionaire Elon Musk Image credit X.com
A private citizen with billions in Indian business interests — Starlink deals, Tesla showrooms, a pending SpaceX IPO — may have been on a classified head-of-state call about the Strait of Hormuz crisis. Neither the White House nor New Delhi is explaining why.
By NIRENDRA DEV
New Delhi, March 28, 2026 — Anything is possible with Donald Trump. In India, in desi parlance, they say — “Modi hae toh Mumkin hae.” But even by the standards of the Trump era, this one is genuinely extraordinary.
Reports have emerged that Elon Musk — private citizen, Tesla chief, SpaceX founder, and a man with substantial and active commercial interests in India — may have been present on the telephone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump. The call centred on one of the most sensitive geopolitical flashpoints of the moment: the Strait of Hormuz crisis and its implications for global shipping, energy supplies, and regional stability.
Neither the White House nor Indian officials mentioned Musk’s participation in their official readouts. The White House declined to comment. Musk did not respond to requests for clarification.
Washington has the answers. So far, Washington is not offering them.
Why this is not a minor footnote
The New York Times noted that it is rare — in fact, highly unusual — for private citizens to be included in calls between heads of state, where sensitive national security matters are routinely discussed. Protocol exists precisely to prevent conflicts of interest, inadvertent disclosures, and the blurring of the line between state power and private commercial gain.
Musk’s presence on such a call, if confirmed, raises all three concerns simultaneously.
His companies carry significant investment from sovereign wealth funds in Saudi Arabia and Qatar — countries with direct stakes in Middle East stability and Hormuz access. SpaceX is also reportedly considering an initial public offering later this year, the valuation of which could be materially affected by whether global economic conditions stabilise or deteriorate. And Musk has long and openly pursued a larger commercial footprint in India — a pursuit that has accelerated dramatically in recent months.
The India business context
In March 2025, Musk secured a significant commercial breakthrough in India, signing back-to-back deals to bring SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet services to the country. Reliance Jio agreed not only to offer Starlink equipment in its retail outlets but to establish customer service, installation, and activation support. A second partnership followed shortly after.
Those deals came on the heels of Prime Minister Modi’s meeting with Musk in Washington in February 2025 — a meeting that itself attracted attention given Musk’s concurrent efforts to expand in India across multiple sectors.
Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company, has been attempting to enter the Indian market since 2017, repeatedly delayed by stalled negotiations over import duties. In 2025, Tesla signed a lease for a showroom in Mumbai to begin selling imported vehicles. A SpaceX IPO, if it proceeds, would give Musk further reason to want stable economic conditions and continued goodwill from the world’s most populous nation.
The question is not whether these interests exist. They demonstrably do. The question is whether a man holding them should have been listening to a private call between two heads of state about a crisis affecting the very trade routes and energy markets his companies depend on.
What the call was actually about
The Modi-Trump conversation focused on the Strait of Hormuz — a waterway through which a significant portion of the world’s oil supply passes and which Iran now effectively controls amid the ongoing conflict. US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said the leaders highlighted the importance of keeping the waterway accessible as tensions escalate.
Modi later described the conversation as a “useful exchange,” reiterating India’s support for de-escalation and an early return to peace. Addressing the Lok Sabha, he said any disruption to the Strait of Hormuz is “unacceptable,” citing attacks on commercial vessels and instability along key shipping routes. In the Rajya Sabha, he warned the crisis is unsettling the global economy — disrupting trade routes and affecting supplies of fuel, gas, and fertilisers. The disruption has already triggered sharp rises in global energy prices and is feeding supply anxieties across Asia.
These are precisely the conditions that affect Musk’s business calculus — and precisely the kind of information that, if he was present, he would have received before markets or the public did.
The diplomatic question India must answer
In 2025, Modi and Trump repeatedly displayed visible differences — over trade talks and the announcement of the Operation Sindoor ceasefire. Relations between New Delhi and Washington have required careful management. Into that already complex bilateral context, this episode adds a fresh layer of discomfort.
Should India register a formal diplomatic protest on grounds of protocol violation? That question is live. For now, as this column has noted, since Musk’s participation — if it occurred — would have been arranged from the US side, the explanation belongs to Washington.
But India’s silence is also a choice. And in diplomacy, silence is rarely neutral. But the question stays: Should India register any diplomatic protest because apparently there is a protocol violation.
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