Says “In AI, India sees opportunity, the blueprint of tomorrow”
“We must develop a collective resolve of AI for Global Common Good”
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for democratising AI, saying it must become a tool for inclusion and empowerment, particularly for the Global South.
Inaugurating the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Thursday Prime Minister Modi said that world is entering an era where humans and intelligent systems co-create, co-work and co-evolve. He said AI will make the work smarter, more efficient and more impactful. The Prime Minister called for developing a collective resolve of AI for the Global Common Good. He said, in AI, India sees opportunity and the blueprint of tomorrow.
Mr Modi said India not only develops new technology but also adopts it rapidly. He said, India is the centre of the world’s largest tech pool. The Prime Minister said it is a matter of pride for India and the Global South that the AI summit is being organised in New Delhi. He said, Artificial Intelligence marks a transformative chapter in human history. He said, in the course of human history, there have been certain turning points that shaped entire centuries. Mr Modi said these turning points set the direction of civilisation and transform the pace of development. He said, AI is making machines intelligent, and at the same time, it is multiplying human capabilities many times over.
The Prime Minister said today’s journey from Machine Learning to Learning Machine is not only rapid but also profound and extensive. He said, therefore, we must keep the vision grand and fulfil the responsibility with equal magnitude. Mr Modi outlined the M.A.N.A.V. vision for AI – Moral and Ethical Systems, Accountable Governance, National Sovereignty, Accessible and Inclusive, and Valid and Legitimate. He asserted that India’s M.A.N.A.V. Vision will become a crucial link for humanity’s welfare in the AI-driven world of the 21st century.
The Prime Minister remarked that the real question is not what AI can do in the future, but what humanity chooses to do with AI in the present. Drawing parallels with nuclear power, he noted that humanity has witnessed both its destructive potential and its positive contributions. Mr Modi asserted that AI too is a transformative power – if directionless, it leads to disruption, but with the right direction, it becomes a solution. The Prime Minister stated that AI must be given an open sky, while command must remain in human hands. The Prime Minister added that India believes AI will benefit the world only when it is shared. He emphasised that open code and shared development will allow millions of young minds to make AI better and safer.
Highlighting the urgent need for global standards, the Prime Minister pointed out that deepfakes and fabricated content are destabilising open societies. Drawing a parallel with nutrition labels on food, he said that digital content too must carry authenticity labels so people can distinguish between real and AI-generated material. Mr Modi underlined the growing need for watermarking and clear source standards as AI increasingly generates text, images, and videos, stressing that trust must be built into technology from the start.
Emphasising the importance of child safety, the Prime Minister stated that just as school syllabi are curated, the AI space must also be child-safe and family-guided.
Prime Minister Modi remarked that India is building a resilient ecosystem ranging from semiconductors and chip-making to quantum computing. He highlighted that secure data centres, a strong IT backbone, and a dynamic startup ecosystem make India a natural hub for affordable, scalable, and secure AI solutions. Mr Modi emphasised that India possesses diversity, demography, and democracy. He noted that any AI model that succeeds in India can be deployed globally. He extended an invitation to the world with the call: ‘Design and Develop in India, Deliver to the World, Deliver to Humanity’.
In his address, French President Emmanuel Macron said that last year, when France and India co-hosted the AI Action Summit in Paris, a global guiding principle was set for technologies that would transform societies and economies. He said, Artificial Intelligence will be an enabler for humanity to innovate faster, to facilitate healthcare, energy, mobility, agriculture, and public services for the good of mankind. Emphasising the scale of India’s digital infrastructure, he added that India built something that no other country in the world has built. He said it has given digital identity to 1.4 billion people, a payment system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month and a health infrastructure that has issued 500 million digital health IDs.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said AI must belong to everyone. He said the future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries. Mr Guterres called for a global fund on AI to build basic facilities in developing countries.
Welcoming the world leaders attending the summit, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the government is working on all 5 layers of the AI stack. He added that the government treats computing as a public good. He added that the government has created a Common Compute Platform that provides access to 38 thousand GPUs at affordable rates for startups, researchers, academic institutions, and students. He further said that another 20 thousand GPUs will soon be added to the platform. Mr Vaishnaw said artificial intelligence is a foundational technology that is transforming how people work, learn, and make decisions. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes the true value of technology lies in ensuring its benefits reach the masses.
Later, Mr Vaishnaw announced a significant outcome of the India AI Impact Summit, the New Delhi Frontier AI Impact Commitments. He said, of these two significant commitments, the first is advancing understanding of real-world AI usage through anonymised and aggregated insights to support evidence-based policymaking on jobs, skills, and economic transformation. Second commitment is strengthening multilingual and contextual evaluations of AI systems to ensure that AI works effectively across languages, cultures, and real-world use cases, especially in the global south. The Minister said, together, these efforts mark an important step towards shaping AI that is not only powerful but also inclusive, development-oriented, and globally relevant.
