India’s chance to shape the AI world

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.

- AJAY KUMAR

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 chief executive officers, conferring legitimacy and political capital to propel the global AI agenda decisively forward. To make the summit count for India, six outcome-driven strategies are outlined below.

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.