India positions itself as the AI World’s third pole under PM Modi’s leadership

Govt and the Corporates have to do requisites follow up to achieve results

By T N Ashok

At the center of Bharat Mandapam, the chiselled, lotus-shaped convention complex that has become the theatre for India’s global ambitions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood for a “family photo” that looked less like a diplomatic formality and more like a merger of Silicon Valley and the Westphalian order.

To his left stood Sam Altman of OpenAI and Sundar Pichai of Google; to his right, the heads of state from across Europe, Central Asia, and the Global South. The tableau, captured during the India AI Impact Summit this week, crystallized a new reality in global affairs: the future of geopolitics is no longer just about borders and warships, but about who controls the code, the capital, and the critical minerals that feed the machine.

As the five-day summit continues, it has become clear that India is making a high-stakes wager. In a world increasingly bifurcated by the technological “Cold War” between Washington and Beijing, New Delhi is positioning itself as a “third pole”—a democratic, populous bridge capable of harmonizing the ruthless innovation of the American private sector with the regulatory caution of Brussels and the developmental urgencies of the Global South.

The summit, themed “Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhay” (Welfare for All, Happiness for All), sought to rebrand Artificial Intelligence. While the West often discusses AI through the lens of existential risk or productivity gains, India framed it as a “development accelerator.”

With over 500 global leaders and 150 researchers in attendance, the subtext was unmistakably strategic. India is signalling that it will no longer be a passive “rule-taker” in technology. By hosting the first major AI conclave anchored in the Global South, Mr. Modi is arguing that AI governance must reflect the realities of the developing world—prioritizing inclusion and “digital public infrastructure” over the insular safety frameworks of Silicon Valley.

The summit served as a potent diplomatic accelerator, particularly for the long-stalled India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In the quiet rooms of Bharat Mandapam, AI became the new currency of negotiation.

Meetings with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo focused on leapfrogging into 6G and clean energy, while talks with Estonia’s Alar Karis centered on digitizing governance. For Europe, closer ties with India offer a crucial “de-risking” strategy, providing a supply-chain alternative to China. For India, these partnerships unlock the capital and high-end semiconductors necessary to fuel its domestic AI industry.

The fusion of soft power and hard economics was perhaps most visible in Mr. Modi’s engagement with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez, designating 2026 as the “India-Spain Year of Culture, Tourism, and AI.” It is a move that suggests technology is now as central to a nation’s identity as its art or history.

While the talk on the main stage was of algorithms, the discussions in the bilateral suites were often about the earth.

In meetings with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, the conversation turned to rare earths and critical minerals. In the AI era, these minerals are the “new oil”—the physical requirement for the chips and batteries that make intelligence possible. By linking AI cooperation to material sovereignty, India signalled its understanding that a digital revolution cannot exist without a secure physical supply chain.

This “Neighbourhood First” approach extended to the Indian Ocean. With leaders from Mauritius and Sri Lanka, India discussed AI applications in maritime surveillance and disaster resilience. In a region where China’s maritime footprint continues to expand, AI-driven logistics and security have become essential tools of Indian statecraft.

The summit also saw the inauguration of the Franco-Indian Center for Artificial Intelligence in Health, a joint venture between AIIMS and the Paris Brain Institute. French President Emmanuel Macron’s support for the project highlights a growing “strategic axis” between Paris and New Delhi. Both nations have long championed “strategic autonomy”—a desire to remain independent of the U.S.-China binary.

By embedding AI in healthcare research, the two nations are creating a model for “Sovereign AI”—technology developed by states to serve their citizens, rather than technology developed by monopolies to harvest data.

For the titans of Silicon Valley, the summit was a reminder of India’s leverage. With a vast engineering workforce and a massive, data-rich population, India is indispensable.

However, the presence of figures like Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Alexandr Wang of Scale AI suggested a relationship that is increasingly symbiotic yet cautious. India has signaled it will craft its own governance frameworks, balancing innovation with safety. For Big Tech, the price of admission to the Indian market may soon include a requirement to play by New Delhi’s regulatory rules, which prioritize domestic stability and data sovereignty.

Key Outcomes of the 2026 India AI Impact Summit

Ultimately, the India AI Impact Summit was a masterclass in “multi-alignment.” By convening UN Secretary-General António Guterres and IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva alongside the architects of the LLM revolution, Mr. Modi sought to demonstrate that India is the only power capable of sitting at every table simultaneously.

The defining image of the week—the “family photo” at Bharat Mandapam—captured a moment where programmers and presidents stood on equal footing. But the true legacy of the summit will be found in the corridors currently being built: the digital and physical trade routes that will define the next decade of global power.

In the global race for AI supremacy, India is betting that the ultimate winner won’t be the one with the most compute power, but the one who builds the widest coalition. At Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi proved it is ready to lead the assembly. (IPA Service)