On the fourth day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed delegates at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, in the presence of global leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Prime Minister’s address was translated in real time into several regional languages using AI tools. An AI-powered sign language interpretation also made the speech accessible to a wider audience.
Welcoming delegates from more than 100 countries, the Prime Minister called the summit “a proud moment, for the country and for the Global South.”
Describing it as the “world’s biggest and most historic AI Impact Summit,” he said its scale reflected the significance of the AI moment. He positioned India as a nation representing one-sixth of humanity, home to the world’s largest youth population and one of the largest technology talent pools.
“This is an India that not only builds new technology but adapts it with extraordinary pace,” he said.
Highlighting the strong presence of young innovators, he noted that while new technologies often begin with doubt, India’s youth are embracing AI with confidence.
“They are not just adapting to the AI wave. They are taking ownership of it,” he said, adding that the enthusiasm around the summit demonstrated the strength of India’s innovation ecosystem.
A key announcement was the introduction of the MANAV Vision, India’s framework for ethical and human-centric AI.
“This MANAV Vision from India…will be the main accelerator for the welfare of humanity,” he said. The goal, he emphasised, is to make AI human-centric rather than machine-centric — responsible, accountable and inclusive, particularly for the Global South.
Placing AI in historical context, the Prime Minister compared it to transformative milestones such as the discovery of fire and the invention of writing.
“But today, the journey from machine learning to learning machine is fast, deep and extensive,” he said, stressing that speed and scale demand greater responsibility.
“The question is not what AI can do in the future, but what will we do with AI in the present,” he added, warning that like other transformative technologies, AI’s impact depends on how it is guided.
The Prime Minister said humans and intelligent systems will increasingly “co-create, co-work and co-evolve,” making skilling and lifelong learning essential.
He noted that Indian companies have launched AI models and applications, reflecting the country’s growing capabilities across the technology stack — from semiconductors to secure data infrastructure.
Calling on global stakeholders to “design and develop in India and deliver to the world,” he argued that AI systems that succeed in India’s scale and diversity can be deployed anywhere.
At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also addressed the delegation.
He positioned AI as a foundational technology that is already transforming how people work, learn and make decisions. He said India’s approach to AI is guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of democratising technology and ensuring its benefits reach the masses, not just a privileged few.
He outlined India’s strategy as a five-layer AI stack. First is the application layer, where India is building real-world AI solutions across healthcare, agriculture, education, logistics and financial services. He said this is where real impact and return on investment will be visible.
Second is the model layer. Vaishnaw stressed the importance of sovereign AI models. While frontier large models will continue to evolve globally, he said most use cases can be handled by smaller, specialised and cost-efficient models. Many such multimodal and multilingual models were launched at the summit.
Third is the compute layer. He said India treats compute as a public good and has created a shared platform with 38,000 GPUs, with 20,000 more to be added, to support startups, researchers and students at affordable rates.
Fourth is infrastructure. He highlighted policy moves to attract global data to be stored and processed in India, expecting major data centre investments.
Fifth is energy. He emphasised India’s clean energy push, noting that over half of installed power capacity comes from renewable sources.
He concluded by stressing responsible AI, human dignity, safety and inclusive global participation, especially for the Global South.
