Global South Looks Upto India and its Role in Global AI Landscape, Says EAM Jaishankar

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has emphasized that India plays an important role in the global Artificial Intelligence landscape, while pointing out that several countries especially the ones in the Global South, look up to it for inspiration

While addressing the Trust and Safety India Festival 2025, which stands as a pre-summit for February 2026 AI Impact Summit, Jaishankar said, "India bears a special responsibility because many other nations - especially those of the Global South - they look to us for inspiration, and certainly in the case of the digital public infrastructure."

He further noted that while highlighting the achievements of India in the last decade when one looks at the scale of delivery, improvement in governance, efficiencies with which public is served.

"As a Foreign Minister, when I go abroad, this is often the topic of conversation, and I can see very much, this being extrapolated into the world of AI as well", the EAM said, as quoted by ANI.

Jaishankar also further stressed on the fact that for a society like India, “responsible AI means development of indigenous tools and frameworks, self-assessment protocols for innovators and establishing relevant guidelines. Only then can we be assured that the development, deployment, use and governance of AI is safe and accessible."

While stating that the world is at a cusp of an immense change, the External Affairs Minister stated how the decisions made by us individually and collectively will help decide the fate of the foreseeable future.

He also said that in the next few years, AI will transform our economies, change our work habits, create radically new health solutions, enhance educational access, improve efficiencies and could even lead to a new lifestyle.

Further noting that the changes brought by AI will be all-pervasive and impact every person, Jaishankar stated it is thus imperative to adopt a balanced approach towards AI governance for protecting digital citizens.

He also highlighted, "The difference with the past is that this particular transformation that is going to come upon us - this will be all-pervasive and not just sectoral. It will impact every citizen in every corner of the world. New efficiencies and new possibilities will certainly emerge; but so too will new players and new power centres. For this very reason, we need to adopt a balanced approach to the governance of AI and to ensure that there are adequate guardrails in place to protect digital nagriks. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has noted: "Technology is a force for good, but only if humanity guides it".