**India AI Impact Summit 2026**, hosted by the Government of India under the India AI Mission, began on **February 16, 2026** at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Running until February 20, it is the first major global AI summit in the **Global South**, bringing together over 250,000 delegates, including world leaders, tech executives (such as from Google and OpenAI), policymakers and representatives from over 100 countries. With a theme focused on people, planet and progress, the event highlights AI driving inclusive growth, sustainable development and human flourishing.
A highlight was the strong participation from countries in the Global South, where policymakers and experts from countries like Indonesia, Uganda and Ghana came together to discuss AI adoption. These sessions focused on solving common challenges such as shared learning, regulatory alignment, infrastructure partnerships, data sharing, and limited compute resources.
**Kautsarina Adam** of Indonesia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology emphasized the diplomatic and economic value of the summit. He said that it promotes mutual recognition and agreement on shared efforts, which can promote AI economy and global partnership. He highlighted opportunities such as leveraging Indian datasets for education, awareness and stronger regulatory framework.
**Irene Karungi Sekitoleko**, Senior ICT Infrastructure Engineer at Uganda’s Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, described AI as an emerging but promising technology in Uganda. He noted the ongoing development of the governance framework and expressed interest in learning from India to scale up localized solutions, address infrastructure gaps and build partnerships. He emphasized Uganda’s strong ties with India, including economic contributions from the Indian community and the expectation of deeper government collaboration on emerging technologies.
**Maxwell Ababio**, Head of Technology and Ethics at the Data Protection Commission of Ghana, praised the organization of the summit and the diverse participation. He highlighted Ghana’s efforts to finalize a national AI strategy and policy collaboration (e.g., with Rwanda), praising India’s role and calling for better relations.
India’s growing AI ecosystem represents it as a de-risking, democratic model and bridge to emerging economies, sharing scalable solutions, datasets and frameworks through platforms such as the G20, BRICS and the Voice of the Global South Initiative. The Summit seeks to strengthen South-South cooperation towards equitable technology adoption, free from over-dependence on the Western model, and foster actionable partnerships for inclusive growth.
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