In San Francisco on Friday, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, received the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian honour in India, in the area of Trade and Industry. In presenting the prize to Pichai, India’s ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, noted that his “inspirational journey reaffirms Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation.”
“Delighted to hand over Padma Bhushan to Google CEO Sundar Pichai in San Francisco. His inspirational journey from Madurai to Mountain View, strengthening India-America economic and tech ties, reaffirms Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation,” Sandhu wrote on Twitter.
Delighted to hand over Padma Bhushan to CEO @Google & Alphabet @sundarpichai in San Francisco.
Sundar’s inspirational journey from #Madurai to Mountain View, strengthening 🇮🇳🇺🇸economic & tech. ties, reaffirms Indian talent’s contribution to global innovation pic.twitter.com/cDRL1aXiW6
— Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) December 2, 2022
Pichai wrote on his blog after earning the prestigious award that India is a part of him.
“India is a part of me and I carry it with me wherever I go. I was fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests,” he said.
Pichai added, “I am deeply grateful to the Indian government and the people of India for this immense honour. It is incredibly meaningful to be honoured in this way by the country that shaped me.”
Pichai cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s belief that technology should integrate the three 3s: speed, simplicity, and service.
“We recently announced that we’ll be investing USD 10 billion in India’s digital future, working to enable more affordable internet access, building products for India’s unique needs, helping businesses of all sizes in their digital transformation, and using AI to tackle big societal challenges,” the Google CEO said.
“I look forward to continuing the great partnership between Google and India, as we work together to bring the benefits of technology to more people,” Pichai added.