"Event has been a grand success": MEA on India AI Impact Summit 2026

New Delhi [India], February 20 (ANI): Calling the India AI Impact Summit 2026 a "grand success", the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday said the global summit saw participation from world leaders and delegations across continents, with strong appreciation for India's vision of making artificial intelligence democratic and inclusive.
MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the summit saw participation from leaders and delegations across continents, reinforcing India's growing role as a key player in the global AI landscape.
"This event has been a grand success. We had 20 world leaders who attended this AI summit. In addition, we had 45 delegations represented at the ministerial level from across the world. We also had a hundred countries represented at this particular summit," Jaiswal said.
He noted that while there was a strong focus on the Global South, the summit was "truly global in nature," highlighting significant participation from Europe.
"We had 30 delegations from Europe represented at the official level and several heads of state and government from that continent," Jaiswal said.
According to the MEA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral meetings with 16 world leaders during the summit and also interacted with several other countries on the sidelines.
"One thing which came out very clearly is that all of them appreciated India's vision, Prime Minister's vision of 'MANAV' that he gave to make AI truly democratic, truly human-centric, and truly inclusive," Jaiswal said.
He added that several participating countries expressed interest in seeking India's support to develop their own AI capabilities.
"In fact, several of them said that they would like to seek India's help to develop their own AI capabilities in their countries, so that is something we will engage with. We will be taking forward the agenda with several of the countries, most of them from the Global South," he said.
Jaiswal further noted that many countries recognise India's capability to steer the AI age, particularly within the Global South.
"Overall, it was a very positive outcome, and the world leaders and our stakeholders from across the world, from four corners of the world have been appreciative of our stance, of our approach and of our inclusivity in this global summit", he added.
The India AI Impact Summit, the first global AI summit that was hosted in the Global South from February 16-20, reflected on the transformative potential of AI aligning with the national vision of "Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya" (welfare for all, happiness for all) and the global principle of AI for Humanity. The summit was part of an evolving international process aimed at strengthening global cooperation on the governance, safety and societal impact of AI. (ANI)