India to Host First Global South AI Impact Summit in February 2026

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announces a landmark summit in New Delhi to bridge the global AI divide and ensure inclusive technological growth.

NewDecoded

Published Jan 4, 2026

Jan 4, 2026

3 min read

Image by AI Impact Summit

New Delhi will serve as the host city for the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February 19 and 20 at Bharat Mandapam. This high-level convening marks the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, shifting the international focus from existential risks to tangible societal impact. Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the event aims to consolidate global cooperation while advancing priorities for inclusive technological progress.

The summit builds on previous international forums held in the United Kingdom and France, but it pivots toward the specific needs of developing nations. Organizers emphasize bridging the Global AI Divide, as current resources remain heavily concentrated in a few regions and corporations. By democratizing access to compute and data, the summit seeks to empower nations to develop contextualized AI solutions for their own citizens.

At the heart of the summit are three guiding principles known as Sutras: People, Planet, and Progress. These pillars ensure that AI development remains human-centered, environmentally sustainable, and focused on equitable socio-economic growth. The framework acknowledges that while AI offers immense opportunities for healthcare and education, it also presents challenges like job disruption and high energy consumption.

Seven interconnected Chakras will guide the summit's deep-dive sessions, ranging from Human Capital and Science to Safe and Trusted AI. These thematic areas translate the broader principles into concrete actions, such as establishing global AI literacy standards and promoting frugal innovation for low-resource environments. Initiatives like AI for ALL and YUVAi will specifically engage diverse identities and youth creators to ensure technology serves the many.

Preparations for the New Delhi event have included diplomatic outreach in major global tech hubs and academic research symposiums. These efforts aim to build a consensus on data management and model deployment that respects cultural and linguistic diversity. Interested participants can find registration details and further information on the India-AI Impact Summit official website.

Decoded Take

The India-AI Impact Summit represents a critical turning point in global technology diplomacy by centering the interests of the Global South. By introducing the concept of frugal AI, India is challenging the industry to move away from purely compute-heavy models toward efficient, modular systems that work in varied environments. For developers and tech giants, this means the next wave of growth will likely be driven by inclusive, multi-lingual datasets and applications that solve fundamental societal challenges rather than just pursuing raw processing power.