In Paris, PM Narendra Modi will push to bridge AI digital divide

To co-chair AI Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron on Feb 11

India aims to reduce the technology gap that emerges with the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and will focus on its inclusive use during Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's visit to France next week for the AI Action Summit, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said on Friday.

 

After his three-day visit to France from February 10, the PM will travel to the United States (US) to hold bilateral meetings with President Donald Trump, Misri confirmed.

 

A declaration will be adopted at the Paris Summit, which will be co-chaired by Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on February 11, Misri told reporters at a special briefing.

 

 

The summit, the third in as many years, builds on initial global efforts to establish scientific foundations, solutions, and standards for more sustainable AI.  

“India is interested in AI applications that are designed, developed, deployed, and used in a safe, humane, responsible, and trustworthy manner. There are issues related to the inclusive use and application of AI, and the inevitable technology gap we expect these developments to create. It is our effort to try and minimise this gap as much as possible," Misri said.

 

Both leaders will also address the India-France CEO forum featuring tech leaders and hold bilateral meetings.

 

On February 12, Modi will visit a memorial honouring Indian soldiers martyred in the First World War in France and inaugurate India’s new consulate in Marseille, the second-largest city in France.

 

The PM will also visit the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in southern France. This international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aims to create energy through a fusion process similar to that of the Sun.

 

Modi’s visit to the US on February 12-13 will include bilateral meetings between the leaders three weeks after Trump began his second term in the White House. The visit is expected to conclude with a joint statement. The meetings will focus heavily on trade and tariffs. New Delhi is in a wait-and-watch mode as US President Donald Trump has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, and a 10 per cent levy on Chinese imports.

 

US deportations

 

As many as 487 presumed Indian citizens illegally present in the US have been served final deportation orders by the Trump administration, and India is verifying their citizenship, Misri said. Of these, the US has provided identifying details of 298 individuals.

 

 A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, marking the first batch of Indian deportees. 

 

The ministry did not provide the details of how many similar flights are expected in coming days, or the total number of Indians illegally in the US who may face forced removal. India is working on first identifying whether the deportees selected by the US are bona fide Indian citizens.

 

While it would be hard to give an exact number, further flights are expected if the number of identified Indians went up, he indicated. Between October 2023 and September 2024, US authorities apprehended 90,415 Indians attempting to enter illegally. 

 

Responding to outrage over the handcuffing of Indians on the flight, Misri said the Standard Operating Procedures followed by the US regarding the detention of illegal immigrants on return flights have been unchanged since 2012. 

 

The government is also focused on dismantling the ecosystem enabling illegal migration by criminal networks targeting vulnerable individuals.