India's AI conference - a statement of strategic intent?

ISLAMABAD: Feb 18, 2026: India is convening a major conference on artificial intelligence at a moment when the global race for technological leadership is intensifying and digital sovereignty has become a strategic priority.

The gathering is not merely an academic exercise; it signals New Delhi’s intent to position itself as a serious architect of the next phase of the digital economy.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, running from 16 to 20 February in the capital, is expected to draw some 250,000 participants. French President Emmanuel Macron arrived on Monday to join Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and nearly 20 other world leaders for talks that range from innovation and cross-border cooperation to the governance and risks of advanced AI systems.

At its core, the conference reflects India’s ambition to move from being a back-office technology hub to becoming a creator of advanced AI systems.

Policymakers have repeatedly framed artificial intelligence as central to economic growth, public service delivery, agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing.

By bringing together researchers, industry leaders, start-ups, and global technology firms, the government is attempting to accelerate innovation while shaping the rules that will govern AI’s deployment.

Another key motive is geopolitical. As the United States and China dominate the AI landscape, India is seeking to carve out a third space—one that emphasizes open innovation, trusted partnerships, and democratic values.

Hosting an AI conference allows India to project itself as a responsible technology power and to influence global debates on ethics, regulation, and data governance.

Domestically, the event is also about investment and infrastructure. Artificial intelligence requires high-performance computing capacity, semiconductor ecosystems, skilled manpower, and strong research institutions.

A high-profile conference helps attract foreign investment, encourage public-private collaboration, and signal policy stability to global technology companies considering expansion in the Indian market.

There is also a workforce dimension. With one of the world’s largest youth populations and a vast IT services industry, India sees AI as both an opportunity and a disruption.

By foregrounding AI at a national level, the government aims to steer reskilling efforts and ensure that automation does not widen inequality but instead fuels productivity and job creation.

In essence, India is holding the AI conference to assert technological leadership, shape global norms, attract capital, and prepare its workforce for a future increasingly defined by intelligent systems.

It is as much a statement of strategic intent as it is a platform for technical discussion.

Eight European Union leaders have travelled to New Delhi as India openned what is being billed as one of the largest artificial intelligence gatherings ever staged in the developing world — a summit that doubles as a statement of geopolitical ambition.

This year’s summit marks a symbolic shift. Previous editions were hosted in the UK, South Korea and France, but 2026 is the first time the event is being held in a developing country.

That move underscores India’s attempt to bridge what organisers describe as a widening global AI divide — amplifying perspectives from the Global South while positioning itself as a central convening power in the technology’s next phase.

Modi framed the summit around the Sanskrit theme “Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya” — welfare for all, happiness for all — signalling India’s intent to champion a human-centric model of AI development rather than a purely commercial or strategic race. 

The message is carefully calibrated: India wants to grow fast in AI, but also to shape the ethical and regulatory conversation.

Macron is not alone among European leaders making the journey. Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, Estonia’s Alar Karis, Slovakia’s Peter Pellegrini, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Croatia’s Andrej Plenković and Finland’s Petteri Orpo are also attending. The European Commission is represented by tech vice-president Henna Virkkunen, who is due to speak on international AI governance.

The scale of European representation reflects a broader calculation. As Brussels advances its regulatory model through the EU AI Act, engagement with India offers both diplomatic leverage and market opportunity. 

India’s AI strategy, unlike the frontier model race led by companies such as OpenAI, focuses more on targeted, problem-driven applications across sectors such as healthcare, agriculture and public administration.

At the same time, global technology giants are already investing heavily in India’s digital infrastructure. Amazon has pledged $35bn in AI-related infrastructure by 2030, while Google plans to invest $15bn.

The summit will also feature industry leaders including Sam Altman of OpenAI, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Dario Amodei of Anthropic.

By convening world leaders, regulators and technology executives under one roof, New Delhi is signalling that the future of AI governance will not be written solely in Washington, Beijing or Brussels — but increasingly, in the Global South as well.