- AI governance becomes geopolitical; India seeks rule-maker role.
- India’s digital infrastructure provides inclusive, development-first AI model.
- India promotes global AI capacity, standards, and South cooperation.
Artificial Intelligence is no longer merely a technological revolution; it has become the defining geopolitical contest of the twenty-first century. Nations are no longer competing simply to develop better algorithms; they are competing to write the rules that will govern the next digital era. Whoever shapes the standards for AI today will influence global trade, military capabilities, economic competitiveness, data governance, and even democratic values for decades to come.
It is against this backdrop that the inaugural Global Dialogue on AI Governance, held in Geneva on July 6-7 under the mandate of the United Nations General Assembly, assumes historic significance. Unlike previous AI summits convened by powerful nations or exclusive economic groupings, the UN initiative gives every country a voice. It may not possess legislative authority, but in global diplomacy, legitimacy often precedes law. For India, the Dialogue is less about attending another international conference and more about claiming its place as one of the architects of the emerging AI order.
The timing could hardly be better.
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure Offers a Proven Model
Only five months earlier, India hosted the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, attracting more than one hundred countries and over twenty heads of government. Unlike earlier AI gatherings that were largely dominated by Western concerns over existential risks or technological competition, the New Delhi summit expanded the conversation to include equity, accessibility, sustainability and inclusive innovation. It demonstrated that India possesses not only technological ambitions but also diplomatic convening power.
More importantly, India enters these negotiations with something many countries lack: a proven model.
For years, global discussions on AI governance have remained largely theoretical. India, however, has quietly built one of the world’s most successful digital ecosystems. Aadhaar has provided a digital identity to over a billion citizens. UPI has revolutionised digital payments on an unprecedented scale. DigiLocker has transformed public documentation, while BHASHINI is breaking linguistic barriers through AI-powered language technologies. Artificial intelligence is now being layered across this Digital Public Infrastructure to detect financial fraud, improve healthcare delivery, expand education, enhance judicial accessibility and strengthen governance.
This practical experience fundamentally distinguishes India from many advanced economies whose AI debates remain focused on regulating private technology giants. India’s model demonstrates that AI can also be a public good.
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Putting Development at the Centre of AI Governance
That distinction matters enormously.
Much of the global AI governance debate since the Bletchley Park Summit in 2023 has revolved around catastrophic risks, frontier models and existential threats. While these concerns deserve attention, they often reflect the priorities of technologically advanced economies rather than those of developing nations. For much of Asia, Africa and Latin America, the immediate challenge is not preventing hypothetical superintelligence but ensuring that AI does not widen existing developmental inequalities.
India has consistently argued that AI governance must balance innovation with inclusion. Its framework, built around the principles of People, Planet and Progress, recognises that responsible AI is not merely about limiting risks but about expanding opportunities. In Geneva, India’s message was clear: unless the developing world gains affordable access to AI infrastructure, talent, computing capacity and digital public goods, artificial intelligence could deepen the global digital divide rather than bridge it.
This development-first philosophy is rapidly becoming India’s greatest diplomatic strength.
Navigating the US-China AI Rivalry
The geopolitical context makes India’s role even more consequential.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming the newest theatre of strategic competition between the United States and China. Washington continues to champion innovation-led partnerships among trusted allies while remaining cautious about binding international regulations. Beijing, meanwhile, has positioned the United Nations as the preferred platform for AI governance, portraying itself as a technology partner for the Global South through affordable models, digital infrastructure and investment.
As these competing technological ecosystems take shape, many middle powers face uncomfortable choices.
India does not.
Its longstanding commitment to strategic autonomy allows New Delhi to engage both camps without becoming captive to either. India collaborates closely with the United States on semiconductors, trusted AI ecosystems and critical technologies, while simultaneously deepening partnerships with African countries, ASEAN members and fellow developing economies. This balanced diplomacy reflects India’s broader foreign policy doctrine of multi-alignment, working with multiple power centres without surrendering strategic independence.
Such positioning offers India an opportunity that extends well beyond diplomacy. It allows New Delhi to emerge as the bridge between competing technological blocs.
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Four Priorities for India’s AI Leadership
However, influence cannot be sustained through speeches alone.
If India intends to shape global AI governance rather than merely participate in it, four strategic priorities should define its approach over the coming years.
First, India should lead international efforts to establish a Global AI Capacity Fund under the United Nations. Just as climate finance became central to global climate negotiations, AI capacity-building must become the cornerstone of digital cooperation. India’s experience with scalable Digital Public Infrastructure provides a ready blueprint for supporting developing nations.
Second, New Delhi should champion globally interoperable standards for AI testing, transparency, safety evaluations and algorithmic accountability. Uniform technical standards would reduce regulatory fragmentation while encouraging responsible innovation across jurisdictions with different legal systems.
Third, India must continue investing aggressively in domestic AI capabilities. The IndiaAI Mission, sovereign foundation models such as BharatGen, indigenous language technologies, semiconductor manufacturing and high-performance computing infrastructure are not merely economic investments; they are strategic assets. Countries that depend entirely on foreign AI models will inevitably find themselves dependent on foreign digital sovereignty.
Finally, India should institutionalise a Global South coalition on AI governance. Working alongside Brazil, the African Union, ASEAN partners and other emerging economies, New Delhi can ensure that future AI regulations reflect the developmental priorities of billions rather than the commercial interests of a handful of technology corporations.
From Rule-Taker to Rule-Maker
This is where India’s comparative advantage becomes evident.
Unlike many global powers, India combines democratic legitimacy, technological capability, digital scale, diplomatic credibility and developmental experience. It is one of the few countries capable of speaking simultaneously to Silicon Valley, Brussels, Beijing, Nairobi and Brasília with equal credibility. That ability to build consensus may prove more valuable than technological dominance alone.
The world today does not suffer from a shortage of AI declarations. It suffers from a shortage of institutions capable of translating principles into practice. The challenge before the international community is no longer whether AI should be governed, but who will shape that governance and whose values will define it.
India has both the opportunity and the responsibility to answer that question.
For decades, New Delhi has often been described as a rule-taker in global technology governance, adapting to standards largely designed elsewhere. The AI revolution offers a rare chance to rewrite that narrative. By leveraging its Digital Public Infrastructure, democratic credentials, technological ecosystem and diplomatic reach, India can help build an AI order that is inclusive rather than exclusive, collaborative rather than confrontational, and centred on human development rather than technological supremacy.
Geneva was only the opening chapter. The real test begins now. If India sustains its diplomatic momentum, invests in indigenous innovation and builds coalitions across the Global South, it will not merely participate in shaping the future of artificial intelligence it will help define the rules of the century’s most consequential technology.
The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author.
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