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A look at what happened on the first day of prime minister Narendra Modi's visit to New York on Thursday provides a rather clear idea about what his top priority is – he means business.

On the Day 1, he met CEOs of 47 Fortune 500 companies, media companies and key financial sector players and made strong pitch for making investments in India, according to media report.

It is significant that Modi’s appeal to invest in India comes at a time when the global economy is passing through a difficult phase with a looming threat of a crippling economic slowdown in China.

Here’s an explainer on whom he met and what he said on his first day in New York:

Whom did Modi meet?

Many top honchos of US business. Among the chief executives of the financial world were Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan, Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone, Charles Kaye of Warburg Pincus, Henry Kravis of KKR, Bill Ford of General Atlantic, Peter Hancock of AIG Insurance, Chase Coleman of Tiger Global and Vicki Fuller of NY State Common Retirement Fund.

The prime minister later met US-India Business Council chair Ajay Banga, industrialist and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, Lockheed Martin chief Marillyn A. Hewson and Aecom chief executive Mike Burke.

At the meeting with the theme "Media, Technology and Communications - Growth Story for India", top bosses of companies like News Corp, 21st Century Fox, Sony, Discovery, Time Warner, A&E and VICE Media met Modi. They represented 40 percent of global industry in this space, said an IANS report.

What did Modi say in these meetings?

For the Prime Minister, it was all about attracting capital and investment. At the meeting with 47 CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, Modi assured continuity in economic reforms while pitching for more foreign investments into India. He said prompt decision-making was a priority for the government.

"Foreign direct investment all over the world has fallen. But in India, it increased by 40 percent. This reflects confidence in the Indian economy…. Reform in governance is my Number One priority. We are for simplified procedures, speedy decision-making, transparency and accountability," he has been quoted as saying.

In his meeting with media CEOs, Modi discussed the contentious issue of intellectual property rights. This is one area where the US and India have not been on the same page.

"We are committed to protecting IPR (intellectual property rights), that's essential to fostering creativity…. This is a technology driven era. We are a technology driven society," Modi reportedly told the CEOs.

In his meeting with top financial sector CEOs, Madi made he the biggest pitch yet to woo US investments. He assured them their concerns will be resolved and bottlenecks removed. He outlined efforts made during the last 15 months to increase investment in key areas like infrastructure.

According to the MEA spokesperson, the Prime Minister said: "...Any bottlenecks which should not be there, will not be there."

He also rolled out statistics about the GDP growth (7.3% last year; and one that's sparked debate back home) and also cited the World Bank and IMF’s expectations about the Indian economy. Terming startups a "personal sector" on the lines of private and public sectors, the Prime Minister outlined his vision for "Start-Up India, Stand-Up India" at the meeting.

All in all, as Kalpana Morparia, the India CEO of JP Morgan, said: "It was not a political discussion, it was about investing in India."

What the CEOs said? Will investments flow?

CEOs did share their concerns as well as experiences of doing business in India, says the PTI report. And Swarup is confident that investments will flow.

When asked if the government had given any assurances on investments, Swarup said: "Yes, all of them."

"They talked about their figures. Somebody has a $5 billion investment, somebody has a $10 billion. They all, as I said, were very bullish on India especially on insurance sector where cap (on foreign equity) has now gone up to 49 percent….So, they were all, as I said, fairly bullish on future prospects in India," he was quoted as saying in an IANS report.

Even Morparia of JP Morgan, said she was "absolutely" certain about investments flowing into India.

“The difference that we see is that Mr. Modi not merely understands the issues, but responds when they are raised and promises action. That is reassuring,” a report in The Hindu quoted a senior executive part of the meetings as saying.