New Delhi, February 19, 2026: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, with global leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in attendance. The five-day summit, described by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as the “first AI summit in the Global South and the biggest AI summit so far,” has attracted participants from 118 countries.
Welcoming delegates, Vaishnaw said, “Prime Minister Modi believes the true value of technology lies in ensuring its benefits reach the masses. His vision is to democratise technology, deploy it at scale, and make it accessible to all.”
The summit focuses on three pillars People, Planet, and Progress aiming to translate global AI deliberations into actionable outcomes through the IndiaAI Mission and Digital India initiative.
Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran described India as “a nation of AI optimists,” pointing to the country’s digital public infrastructure as evidence of readiness for large scale AI deployment. He highlighted India’s digital identity system covering 1.4 billion people and the nation’s extensive digital payment network.
Vaishnaw also emphasized India’s push to treat compute capacity as a public good, noting that 38,000 GPUs are available for startups, academia, researchers, and students, with another 20,000 GPUs to be added. The approach is designed to ensure AI growth that is trusted, resilient, and competitive.
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 positions India as a central player in shaping inclusive and scalable AI frameworks while strengthening its leadership role in the Global South.