Anurag Kumar
New Delhi, Feb 21: The six-day-long India AI Impact Summit 2026 which offered participating countries an opportunity to leapfrog the world into an AI age, also brought India a chance to conduct bilateral talks on areas like defence, shipping, education, water projects, green hydrogen, etc. with a host of nations.
Diplomats averred that the AI Summit actually “became an occasion for India” to deepen its economic and political diplomacy with a host of countries.
“It is natural that leaders from governments, businesses, and the IT sector in many countries would come to such a summit to exchange views. It is also natural that when leaders meet, they would discuss other subjects of mutual interest, even though the primary focus and attraction is AI and the fact that India is the venue,” said former IFS officer Jesudas Bell while commenting about the summit.
Prime Minister Modi also acknowledged the usefulness of the summit in India’s overall diplomatic moves. “The CEO Roundtable at the AI Impact Summit brought together various stakeholders … The discussions were insightful and forward-looking,” said PM Modi.
On the sidelines of the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met global leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, and discussed joint ventures in making Rafale jets and helicopters here, with France also looking for a similar deal for submarines too.
On the sidelines of the summit, Modi and other Indian negotiators met the leadership from Sri Lanka and Mauritius. India focused on regional cooperation and digital connectivity. Modi’s meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake focused especially, according to officials, on areas such as energy, connectivity, infrastructure, and blue economy.
Officials said that while meeting heads of different nations, India lost no opportunity to hold “talks focused on ways to enhance ties in connectivity, defence, talent mobility and shipping.”
Similarly, green hydrogen, mega water projects, semiconductors and counter-terrorism were the focus of talks between Modi and Netherlands’ Prime Minister Dick Schoof.
PM Modi also used the occasion to underline India’s “historic Free Trade Agreement” with the European union and pointed out the opportunities that arose for cooperation between the two countries, leveraging the trade deal.
Among others, Modi also met Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister of Greece, with whom talks focused on ways to enhance ties in connectivity, defence, talent mobility and shipping. The Prime Minister said, “In recent years, the India-Greece Strategic Partnership has made significant progress.”
Officials also pointed out that the tech summit gave top leaders a chance to get together to discuss governance architecture for the new area.
“Artificial Intelligence is a big disruptor worldwide and all countries are scrambling to see what the implications will be not only for jobs but also for industry, trade, science, technology, etc. There is also the broad area of AI governance, where countries, including India, are working on how AI can be made safe and used responsibly,” Bell said.
No doubt, it was India’s movement to shine. However, how words will turn into reality and how much business India will get remains to be seen.
