April 18-24, 1955, and February 16-21, 2026 — these dates will forever be etched in our nation’s history. But what’s the relation between these?
Let’s begin with the past. The first decade after the end of World War II was consumed by the process of decolonisation. One by one, African and Asian nations were gaining independence. For centuries, their resources had been relentlessly exploited by their colonial masters, leaving the huge population in these regions on the brink of starvation and extreme poverty.
The newly independent nations were courted hard by the two rival superpowers of the era: the US and the Soviet Union. Leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Josip Broz Tito, and Sukarno were concerned that choosing any one bloc would undermine their hard-earned sovereignty. They organised a meeting in the Indonesian town of Bandung. Leaders attending this meeting decided to follow the policy of non-alignment.
In those days, India’s economy ranked tenth in the world, with our per capita income between ₹250-270. Today, India is the world’s fourth-largest economy, marching towards the third rank. Our per capita income has crossed $3,000. If the Bandung conference was the cry of the hungry, then the India AI Impact Summit (February 16-21) is the roar of a rapidly-progressing India.
Recent research by Stanford University rated India as the third most competitive nation in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Out of the total AI experts globally, 16% are of Indian origin. We rank second in generative AI projects. Data reveal 89% of Indian start-ups use AI. Our AI market is currently pegged at close to $23 billion and is projected to grow to $325 billion by 2033. The BharatGen AI, launched in June 2025, is the world’s first government-seeded multi-modal large language model (LLM). If India has to progress, it needs to provide AI software for various regional languages.
Given AI’s expected impact globally, the US has bared its intentions quite early.
Against such a backdrop, India tried to hit many targets simultaneously by hosting the summit. First, this offers our youth the confidence that the nation has the ability to back their soaring ambitions and imagination. The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is confident that the summit positions India as a key actor in establishing an ethical regulatory framework to democratise AI, while regulating deepfakes, promoting cyber security, and tackling challenges emerging due to this technology. The summit had 20 heads of the governments in attendance, including the French president Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres. Industry leaders such as Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI founder-CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and senior executives of Accenture, Adobe, Meta, and 600 other subject matter experts participated in the summit.
The convergence of talent at the summit can be regarded as one of India’s most potent initiatives in the arena of AI diplomacy. India still faces considerable challenges. We need to enhance our computing power and invest in expensive cloud infrastructure. We need to expand our AI awareness in small and medium cities as well as in rural areas. Initiatives have been made in this direction with the help of government-corporate cooperation. As we become a $5-trillion economy, we may achieve many of these goals. Through this summit, India is also expected to receive $200 million in foreign investment.
I would like to share some personal experience here. I went to Jodhpur early this month with some friends. In the evening, we were taken to witness the sunset at the dunes of Osian, some 90 kilometres from the city. We were surprised to find black mustard and some other crops being grown in the sand. The miracle was the result of drip irrigation and AI intervention. The local farmers, with the help of some NGOs, could easily predict which area of the farm needs water, which patch is vulnerable to pests, and which area lags in fertilisers. They would get pest attack warnings in advance. AI systems recommended crops for maximum profit and the markets to tap for this.
This is a unique tale of turning sandy soil into a lush green field. That day, the setting sun actually shone a ray of hope — a hope of a quick, equitable, and profitable spread of AI across the length and breadth of the country.
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal
