Premium NEW DELHI :
: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos landed in India on Tuesday, and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat memorial located in the capital ahead of the online retailer's two-day summit for small and medium businesses scheduled to be held in Delhi tomorrow.
In a post shared by the billionaire on Twitter, Bezos is seen at Raj Ghat, accompanied by Amazon's India head Amit Agarwal.
"Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world," Bezos posted on micro-blogging and social-netwroking website Twitter late on Tuesday evening. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever," Bezos posted quoting Gandhi.
The online retailer is hosting a two-day event in the capital starting January 15. “Smbhav" its collaborative event for small and medium businesses will see the participation of senior industry executives; while Amazon’s top executives such as Amit Agarwal are scheduled to address small business owners over collaborating with the online retailer's products, services and platforms.
Amazon has remained guarded about Bezos's visit to India where he is expected to meet senior government officials. Bezos is also expected to participate in a fireside chat with key Bollywood celebrities to discuss the future of entertainment in Mumbai later in the week.
However, his visit will coincide with protests from small traders across India that have vowed to raise concerns over steep discounts offered by e-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart in India. Scores of small retailers, distributors, and mobile phone shop owners are set to agitate against hefty discounts given by e-retailers and prompting them to comply with FDI guidelines. In all, 5,00,000 traders are expected to hold protests in over 300 locations in India on January 15, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said. Moreover, his visit clashes with a probe ordered by India’s competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), that on Monday said it will look into alleged competition law violations by Amazon.com Inc and Flipkart. Amazon said it will fully cooperate with the CCI.
Jeff Bezos's was seen sporting an Indian kurta along with a fitted jacket as he visited Raj Ghat.
His choice of attire and decision to visit a spot revered by Indians and often visited by dignitaries is indeed symbolic.
The entrepreneur's Indian get up isn't new though. In 2014, when Bezos visited India, the American businessman was seen wearing an Indian sherwani, as he stood atop a heavily decorated truck for a photo-op in the city of Bengaluru that houses the company's India headquarters.
