India sets standard for AI summits, focuses on public policy: Expert

Vivek Agarwal of the Tony Blair Institute and UN's Stefan Priesner have hailed the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, praising India for shifting AI to a public policy issue and showing global leadership for the Global South.

Country Director India at the Tony Blair Institute, Vivek Agarwal, hailed the AI Impact Summit 2026, saying that the Centre has moved the conversation around artificial intelligence from being a technology subject to a public policy issue.

AI as a Public Policy Issue

Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Agarwal said India has set the standard in hosting an AI summit by looking at it as an opportunity to bring tangible impact. "India, the way it has sort of gone about convening this summit, it has truly set a standard in terms of how we need to think about this AI summit as an opportunity to build something that can lead to tangible impact and tangible action. I think it has taken a very nice framing on AI, moving it from a technology subject to a public policy issue and trying to identify what it is that governments can actually do in terms of accelerating and managing AI and its impacts," he said.

UN Hails India's Leadership

Earlier, United Nations Resident Coordinator (RC) in India, Stefan Priesner, congratulated New Delhi for hosting the summit. Expressing his expectations for the summit, he said that AI should be advanced not only in terms of innovation but also for human development aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

Stefan Priesner said, "I congratulate India on hosting this summit at this time. I think it's extremely timely. It's the first AI summit in the Global South, and in this way, India shows global leadership not only in innovation but also in the voice of the South. My expectations for the summit are to significantly advance not only innovation but also innovation for the good of human development, from the United Nations perspective, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainability. I think it's extremely important to link AI to solutions that make sense for people and the planet. And I expect the summit to move the needle towards that."

About the AI Impact Summit 2026

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is being held at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. It started on February 16 and will run up to February 20. The summit brought together government policymakers, industry AI experts, academicians, technology innovators, and civil society from across the world in New Delhi to advance global discussions on artificial intelligence. (ANI)

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