New Delhi, Jan 10 - The responsible development and adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for social benefit is one of the main premises of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 scheduled for next February, a senior official stated today here.
In a press conference, Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, highlighted that this is the first time India is organizing an event of such magnitude, which will take place on February 19 and 20 in New Delhi and is expected to see the participation of high-level delegations from various countries.
He emphasized the progress of the South Asian nation in this field and mentioned, in that regard, the development of digital public infrastructure, which he cited as a world example of how technologies have been used to transform services.
Singh, who is also the CEO of the India-AI Mission launched by the Government of New Delhi, underscored that if an application based on this technology works in India at a population scale for healthcare, education, or agriculture, it is very likely to be effective in other jurisdictions.
He pointed out that it is also possible to create a repository of AI use cases and that his country is working on new regulation that transforms restrictions while allowing the responsible use of artificial intelligence.
He explained that India's overall approach to facilitating low-cost access to AI computing serves as an analytical model for most funding agencies, especially the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and foundations, he assured.
Similarly, he noted that the model India is developing can be replicated so that other countries in the Global South can implement it.
Singh mentioned that this is included in the study topics of various working groups, whose analysis will become part of the outcomes once finalized.
The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 will be the first global event on artificial intelligence to be held in the Global South, Indian authorities recently stressed.
Building on the momentum of top-tier international forums such as the UK AI Safety Summit, the Seoul AI Summit, the France AI Action Summit, and the Global AI Summit on Africa, this high-level meeting marks a crucial turning point, they noted.
New Delhi expects the grand event to strengthen existing multilateral initiatives and at the same time drive new priorities, concrete outcomes, and cooperation frameworks, moving from high-level political declarations to demonstrable impact and tangible progress in global AI cooperation.
The Summit charts a path toward a future in which the transformative power of AI serves humanity, drives inclusive growth, fosters social development, and promotes people-centered innovations that protect our planet, its Organizing Committee highlighted.
It also aims to amplify the voice of the Global South, ensuring that technological advances and opportunities are widely shared and not concentrated in a few regions.
