Seven Chakras of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026
Seven Chakras of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026
Key Takeaways
Introduction
India is at a pivotal stage in its development journey, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerging as a key enabler. For India, AI functions as a strategic national tool to drive the democratisation of technology, ensuring access, inclusion, and equity at scale. This technological revolution has opened vast opportunities for advancements across every domain of human endeavour. India’s role in global technology and governance forums continues to expand, reflecting its growing engagement in shaping international policy discourse on emerging technologies.
As part of this growing global engagement, the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 is slated to take place in New Delhi from 16–20 February. It will be the first-ever global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South.
The Summit will serve as an impact-focused global platform, shaping AI into measurable outcomes across economies, aligning with the national vision of Welfare for All, Happiness of All and global principle of AI for Humanity. It will bring together global leaders, policymakers, innovators, and experts to showcase applications and define AI pathways across governance, innovation, and sustainable development.
Core Principles: The Three Sutras Articulating the AI Impact
The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 is guided by three foundational pillars, referred to as Sutras, which articulate the core principles guiding global cooperation on AI.
Thematic Areas: The Seven Chakras of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026
The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 has attracted significant high-level engagement, with 15–20 Heads of Government, over 50 international ministers, and more than 40 global and Indian CEOs expected to participate.
The Summit’s deliberations are organised through Chakras or Working Groups structured around seven interconnected thematic areas. Each Chakra focuses on a core area of AI impact and translates the Sutras into concrete areas of action across policy and real-world applications. Over 100 countries worldwide have engaged through these Working Groups to shape a future of responsible and inclusive AI.
Each Chakra fosters multilateral collaboration on AI’s societal impacts, from building skills to ensuring ethical deployment:
Chakra
Focus Areas
Human Capital
Advancing equitable skilling and inclusive workforce transitions for an AI-enabled future of work.
Inclusion for Social Empowerment
Advancing AI systems that are inclusive by design, empowering diverse communities and ensuring equitable representation.
Safe and Trusted AI
Building globally trusted AI systems anchored in transparency, accountability, and shared safeguards for innovation.
Science
Harnessing AI to accelerate frontier science, foster scientific collaboration, and translate breakthroughs into shared global progress.
Resilience, Innovation, and Efficiency
Driving sustainable, resource-efficient AI systems that strengthen climate resilience and sustainability.
Democratizing AI Resources
Promoting equitable access to foundational AI resources for inclusive innovation and sustainable development worldwide.
AI for Economic Development & Social Good
Leveraging AI to enhance productivity, innovation, and inclusive development across economies and societies.
Through these Chakras, India aims to shape global AI norms while addressing local challenges. The outcomes of the Summit will guide policy makers, investors, and industry leaders in the years ahead.
Human Capital: India’s Talent Pool Anchoring Global AI Cooperation
India’s rapid adoption of AI is opening new pathways for innovation and inclusive growth across sectors. As technology evolves, India is advancing workforce readiness for an AI-driven economy while ensuring broad participation across regions and socio-economic groups. The Human Capital thematic working group focuses on strengthening these efforts by shaping an equitable AI skilling ecosystem that enables smooth workforce transitions and equips citizens with capabilities for emerging roles.
Key National Indicators of India’s Talent-Force
Government-led investments in skilling, research, and global exposure are strengthening domestic capabilities while aligning them with international requirements. These efforts position India as a dependable and inclusive partner in advancing global cooperation on AI.
Inclusion for Social Empowerment: India’s Approach to Inclusive AI
AI offers India a powerful pathway to expand social inclusion by improving access to services and participation for communities across languages, regions, and abilities. India’s digital public infrastructure positions it well to translate AI innovations into tangible social outcomes. The Inclusion for Social Empowerment thematic working group focuses on advancing inclusive-by-design AI solutions that reflect India’s diversity, strengthen institutional readiness, and ensure AI systems remain safe, relevant, and usable, with clear benefits for underserved and vulnerable communities.
Flagship Initiatives Enabling Social Empowerment through AI
Bharat-VISTAAR: AI-Driven Digital Agriculture Platform
Bharat-VISTAAR, a multilingual AI platform to integrate AgriStack portals and the ICAR package of agricultural practices with AI systems is proposed in the Union Budget 2026-2027. The platform will support digital agricultural extension, enable location-specific advisories, and expand farmer access to scientific and data-driven decision support.
By integrating inclusive design into digital public infrastructure, AI systems are improving access to services across languages and regions, reinforcing trust and social empowerment as core outcomes of India’s AI governance journey.
Safe and Trusted AI: Enabling Responsible AI Aligned with National Priorities
As AI systems grow in scale and impact, ensuring reliability, transparency, and accountability becomes central to sustaining public confidence and responsible innovation. India’s regulatory frameworks position it to contribute meaningfully to the global AI safety efforts. The Safe and Trusted AI thematic working group focuses on strengthening governance capacity and enabling shared learning across countries.
India’s Efforts for Developing Safe and Accountable AI
AI Governance Guidelines
India’s AI Governance Guidelines align AI adoption with national development goals ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026. To apply these principles into practice, the guidelines propose a structured governance framework.
India is building a balanced AI ecosystem where innovation moves with responsibility. The Safe and Trusted AI Chakra reinforces national priorities of inclusion, growth and digital sovereignty.
Resilience, Innovation and Efficiency: Strengthening Resilience through Indigenous AI Innovation
India’s approach to AI places strong emphasis on efficiency and sustainability, aligning technological progress with environmental responsibility and inclusive access. The Resilience, Innovation and Efficiency thematic working group builds on India’s strengths to promote efficiency as a core design principle, enabling adaptable and climate-conscious AI systems that expand access, narrow global disparities, and support a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable AI ecosystem.
Measurable Outcomes in Efficient AI Development:
These efforts widen access to advanced technologies, support climate-conscious innovation, and enhance self-reliance.
Science: AI-Enabled Scientific Research in India
As research becomes more data-intensive and collaborative, there is a strong opportunity to broaden participation and improve the translation of scientific research into real-world solutions in areas such as health, agriculture, and climate. With its growing research base, digital infrastructure, and commitment to open science, India is well positioned to contribute to a more equitable global research ecosystem. The Science thematic working group focuses on advancing open and transparent AI-enabled research and collaborative frameworks that widen participation across regions and institutions.
Progress in India’s Collaborative AI Science
These initiatives strengthen India’s role in collaborative, open AI science, fostering global equitable progress.
Democratising AI Resources: Developing Shared AI Resources
Development of AI systems depends on access to compute, data, and infrastructure, resources that remain unevenly distributed across countries and institutions. Open and interoperable infrastructure, combined with multilateral cooperation, can support contextualised AI development aligned with national priorities. The Democratising AI Resources thematic working group focuses on advancing equitable access and strengthening global representativeness.
Key Milestones in Shared AI Infrastructure
These efforts anchor India’s vision for open, accessible AI infrastructure, driving equitable innovation and global collaboration.
AI for Economic Growth and Social Good: Scaling Impact through AI
While AI holds immense potential to accelerate economic growth and social progress, realizing this promise at scale remains a challenge. The AI for Economic Growth and Social Good Working Group focuses on scaling AI solutions that deliver measurable economic and social outcomes.
Empowering AI-Driven Economic and Social Impact
Together, the Seven Chakras create pathways for India`s responsible innovation, wider participation, and measurable impact. By aligning policy, technology, governance, and capacity-building, they provide a structured framework to translate shared principles into actionable outcomes across countries and sectors.
Conclusion
The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 strengthens India’s role as a key platform for shaping the global AI agenda. Anchored in the Seven Chakras and the Three Sutras of People, Planet, and Progress, the Summit advances a development-oriented framework for artificial intelligence.
By linking policy with implementation and innovation with public purpose, the Summit establishes a structured approach to responsible AI deployment. It aligns technological advancement with inclusive growth and sustainable development.
The Summit positions India as a convenor and partner in global AI cooperation, supporting shared standards, collaborative frameworks, and scalable solutions for public good. It marks a transition from dialogue to delivery, reinforcing India’s commitment to responsible, inclusive, and development-focused AI pathways.
References
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Ministry of Earth Sciences
Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare
NITI Aayog
PIB Backgrounders
India–AI Impact Summit 2026
Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA)