The global AI order is being written now and India has a seat at the table

At the India-AI Impact Summit in February, India must lead the global AI conversation - not with words, but with action

Over recent decades, the norms and standards shaping new technologies have shifted away from traditional multilateral bodies such as the United Nations, the International Organization for Standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission, and the International Telecommunication Union. They are now increasingly set by smaller, influential groupings that define strategic road maps. Internet governance has been driven by bodies like World Wide Web Consortium and Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers; cybersecurity by the Five Eyes and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and mobile standards such as 4G and 5G by the Third Generation Partnership Project. However, India did not have a decision-making role in any of these. 

Therefore, hosting the India-AI Impact Summit in February 2026 is more than a diplomatic milestone. For the first time since Independence, India has a convening role in a global discourse on an emerging technology. Drawing on its active participation in the three previous summits on AI, the Delhi summit underscores India’s rising technological and geopolitical stature, alongside growing international confidence in its leadership. Pre-summit events have witnessed an unprecedented presence of heads of state, minister-level delegations, and a large cohort of global CEOs, conferring legitimacy and political capital to propel the global AI agenda decisively forward. To make the summit truly count for India, six outcome-driven strategies are outlined below. 

India as Global South’s voice in AI governance: This is both an imperative and a widely held expectation. India must position itself as a trusted bridge between advanced and developing economies. The three guiding sutras of the summit: People, Planet and Progress reflect the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, placing collective progress at the centre of the summit’s agenda and providing a strong foundation for the balanced role India must play.

 

While institutionalising the participation of the Global South through dedicated working groups under the summit framework, India should also support principle-based frameworks that preserve domestic policy space while remaining aligned with global norms.  This would place Global South issues such as access to compute, data scarcity, informal economies at the centre of the discussions. The debate on data bias should extend beyond race and gender to include caste, religion, region, and language. India can further build trust by offering its digital public infrastructure (DPI), safety toolkits, and shared compute resources.

 

Moving from statements to action: The summit should focus on launching a small set of practical, shared platforms that developing countries can use together instead of duplicating effort. This is especially critical for small-population nations trying to solve common problems of health or local language. Even starting with 5–10 countries is enough; others will join once value is clear. India could seed these platforms with 5,000–10,000 GPUs (graphics processing units) initially, and scale up further through partner funding. The focus should reflect the needs of emerging economies and draw on India’s strengths in scale, startups, and DPI. Some suggestions for these platforms include open-source AI models for agriculture, health, and education; shared compute access for startups; and multilingual datasets powered by Bhashini.

 

Show results, not just ideas: India must demonstrate scalable, inclusive AI through clear, evidence-based casebooks. In Paris, India focused on Vision. Delhi should spotlight Impact. The five flagship efforts chosen by the government — AI for Energy with the International Energy Agency, health care with the World Health Organization, gender-focused AI with UN Women India, an education casebook, and agriculture with the Government of Maharashtra and the World Bank — are well conceived. By showcasing its own practical, scalable, and replicable AI solutions in these compendiums, India can set a global developmental AI agenda that resonates with other emerging economies.

 

Showcase India’s vast AI talent: The aim must be to move India from being a talent supplier to a global AI capability partner. Through global challenges, research forums, and a showcase of nearly 100 homegrown AI applications, the summit is proposing to highlight Indian researchers, startups, and practitioners as problem-solvers. Pre-summit programmes have already mobilised thousands of innovators. The momentum needs to be sustained. The summit could also consider Global AI Talent Corridors linking Indian skills to global needs, and co-funded AI skilling programmes. Securing bilateral understandings, for example with the United States and the European Union, on talent mobility, visa facilitation, and joint skilling initiatives could emerge as a significant outcome.

 

Channelise investments for AI: A dedicated expo showcasing deployment-ready AI  in health, agriculture, education, and governance can attract direct pledges for compute, data centres, and infrastructure through public–private partnerships. Investor matchmaking and startup pitch sessions can turn interest into real deals. Announcing co-funded, multi-country AI investment vehicles, possibly in GIFTcity, along with clear policy signals can mobilise long-term capital.

 

A boost for domestic AI ecosystem: Finally, the summit must deliver a quantum leap for India’s domestic AI ecosystem by driving key regulatory reforms — standardising data storage, enabling seamless data sharing, and expanding access to compute, testbeds, and sandboxes. Government-led hackathons and assured procurement of AI solutions can drive innovation to new heights. The summit is India’s real chance to lead the global AI conversation. Not with words, but with action! If India seizes this moment it can become the global AI hub by 2035. Opportunities like this do not come twice. The iron is hot, India must strike now.          

The author is chairman, UPSC, and former defence secretary of India. The views are personal