New Delhi Declaration — Global South Hosts the AI Governance Calendar
Modi opened the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam on February 19. A February 21 government update confirmed adoption of the New Delhi Declaration and 92 country/organization endorsements. India also announced a planned compute expansion.
Correction / update, October 14, 2026: Declaration confirmation comes from a February 21 government update, after this article’s original date. Compute additions were planned, not confirmed delivered.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on February 19. The government’s account lists Emmanuel Macron and the UN secretary-general among those present and emphasizes inclusion, human control and access for the Global South.
The broader event was advertised for February 16–20. Its leaders’ declaration concerns the February 18–19 summit.
Declaration: later confirmation#
A February 21 PIB release, published after this article’s original date, confirmed adoption of the New Delhi Declaration, with 92 countries and international organizations endorsing it. Its initiatives cover access, growth, trustworthy AI, science, social empowerment, workforce development and infrastructure. They are voluntary cooperation frameworks, not a binding treaty.
Compute announcement#
On February 17, Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said India would add 20,000 GPUs beyond an existing 38,000 in the coming weeks. That was a capacity plan, not a verified delivery count.