Recalling Bandung 1955 in push to democratise AI

April 18-24, 1955, and February 16-21, 2026 — these dates will forever be etched in our nation’s history.

- Shashi Shekhar

But what's the relation between these?Let's begin with the past. The first decade after the end of World War II was consumed by the process of decolonisation. One by one, African and Asian nations were gaining independence. For centuries, their resources had been relentlessly exploited by their colonial masters, leaving the huge population in these regions on the brink of starvation and extreme poverty.

The newly independent nations were courted hard by the two rival superpowers of the era: the US and the Soviet Union. Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Josip Broz Tito, and Sukarno were concerned that choosing any one bloc would undermine their hard-earned sovereignty. They organised a meeting in the Indonesian town of Bandung. Leaders attending this meeting decided to follow the policy of nonalignment.

In those days, India’s economy ranked tenth in the world, with our per capita income between ₹250-270. Today, India is the world’s fourth-largest economy, marching towards the third rank. Our per capita income has crossed $3,000. If the Bandung conference was the cry of the hungry, then the India AI Impact Summit (February 16-21) is the roar of a rapidly-progressing India.