2026 AI Impact Summit: From Principles To Practice, The Herald Of A New Digital Era

As India prepares to host the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February 2026, the global conversation enters a new phase. This is India's moment to convert the AI momentum into a robust working model.  

Earlier, summits generated frameworks, declarations and commitments. However, now the digital future calls for harmonised regulations that are implementable, and genuine participation from the Global South. 

From Bletchley To Paris 

The Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit in 2023, held in the UK, was the first of its kind attempt to incorporate AI into global diplomacy, embodying aspects of climate discourse, trade, and security. Participation was deliberately limited, which drew some criticism, yet the summit sent an unmistakable message. Governments could no longer remain passive observers.

The following year, South Korea and the UK jointly convened the AI Seoul Summit in 2024, which broadened the earlier conversation. Seoul brought questions of innovation, inclusion, and equitable benefits to the forefront.

Then came the Paris Summit of 2025, which was co-chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. It is considered the most ambitious of global AI summits to date, inculcating a moral argument on the inclusive and sustainable aspects of AI. More than a hundred countries participated, along with over a thousand delegates from government, civil society, academia and industry. The summit recognised the importance of global alignment. 

Now, The Focus Shifts To New Delhi

India’s AI Impact Summit, touted as a leap forward in the AI discourse, lays emphasis on the transition from shared principles to shared outcomes for the global community, as mere statements alone wouldn't make a difference anymore. 

The IndiaAI Mission has crafted seven themes that reflect this new orientation, which are: human capital, inclusion, trusted AI, resilience, scientific advancement, democratised resources, and social good. Each theme recognises that AI can serve development goals only when the right environment exists.

India wants the summit to emphasise not only safe and equitable systems, but also systems that empower people, strengthen communities, and support sustainability. 

The preparations for the summit reflect a strong commitment to inclusive governance. India has already held consultations with more than 300 delegates from a broad range of sectors and geographies. This is not merely a procedural exercise: global AI governance must no longer be shaped by a small group of technologically advanced nations.

It must reflect the priorities of a world that is diverse, unequal, and interconnected. 

Building On The Past 

While Bletchley created an atmosphere of alertness, Seoul pointed towards frameworks that balance safety and progress. Nevertheless to say, at the Paris summit, the nations collectively articulated values that must guide global AI development. 

Now, it is time for New Delhi to build on the groundwork laid by the preceding summits. The 2026 summit aims to connect the dots by focusing on practical tools and institutions that can survive beyond the event itself. India is placing strong emphasis on areas such as technical standards, cross-border partnerships, shared digital platforms, and interoperable systems. These initiatives can help correct long-standing imbalances in compute capacity, data access, and skilled workforce.

For many countries in the Global South, participation in AI development has been limited not by ambition but by lack of infrastructure.

India’s approach attempts to ensure that future governance structures acknowledge these realities. 

The summit is also anchored in institutional design. Hackathons, challenge programmes, technical bodies, and thematic working groups are being considered. 

Policy Harmonisation 

The wider landscape of global AI regulation remains fragmented. Countries are moving at different speeds, guided by different political priorities and economic pressures. The AI Impact Summit provides a chance to bring some coherence to this picture. If India succeeds, the regulatory convergence could begin to focus more on the practicality of implementation and less on the elegance of declarations. 

India’s most significant potential contribution lies in shaping global standards. A consultation process rooted in a developing country offers legitimacy and a fresh perspective. Issues such as open datasets, affordable compute and capacity building could gain the kind of momentum that earlier summits were unable to generate. 

The summit’s emphasis on deliverables is also an important signal. Action plans, working groups and technical alliances are measurable outcomes. They allow governments and organisations to track progress and maintain pressure. They also provide templates that can be adapted to different political and economic contexts. 

The Challenges Ahead

Careful curation and disciplined leadership form the core of the summit, if it is to become a success model for others to emulate. Representation remains a challenge. Wealthier nations often dominate conversations, sometimes unintentionally. Ensuring that smaller or less resourced countries can participate effectively is essential for legitimacy. 

Resource disparities present another set of difficulties. Many countries in the Global South lack the computing infrastructure, training ecosystems or capital needed to participate in AI development. India will need to propose models that are realistic and sensitive to overcome these constraints. 

Even if a consensus is achieved in New Delhi, aligning it with domestic laws will be a long journey. 

Nevertheless, a successful AI Impact Summit could transform global AI governance. It could bring in a more inclusive model and help in the making of frameworks that adapt to changing realities. Most importantly, it could give the Global South a meaningful voice in shaping the future of AI. 

India’s insistence on measurable outcomes, rather than abstract principles, has the potential to convert future summits into engines of practical change. At a time when the world is searching for credible leadership in AI governance, India sees an opportunity it can seize through dialogue and leadership. If the country manages to combine ambition with pragmatism and inclusion with implementation, the New Delhi summit could become a defining moment in the evolution of global AI cooperation. 

(The writer is a former Indian diplomat who has served as High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador to Japan & Sudan. Views are personal.)