India’s AI Impact Summit Calls for Guardrails, Social‑Good Applications and New ‘Third Way’ Governance
Updated (5 articles)
Summit convenes policymakers, technologists, and scholars in New Delhi The 2026 AI Impact Summit opened on 19 February 2026 at the Bharat Mandapam, drawing representatives from more than 70 countries, major tech firms, and Indian ministries. Organisers positioned the event as a platform to shape AI’s role in health, agriculture, education, and public administration while addressing security concerns. The rapid update cycle of the coverage underscores the summit’s real‑time relevance [1][3].
India proposes a “Third Way” governance model distinct from EU, US, China Host officials unveiled a framework that blends market‑friendly adoption with capacity‑building, diplomatic outreach, and strategic autonomy, diverging from the EU’s compliance‑heavy regime, the US’s laissez‑faire stance, and China’s state‑centric model. The model builds on November 2025 guidelines and a February 10 amendment that obliges platforms to label AI‑generated content and remove harmful material within three hours. Proponents argue this approach can scale AI benefits for the Global South while retaining flexibility for future evolution [3].
New Delhi advocates a non‑binding, accountability‑based military AI regime Ahead of the summit, India abstained from the REAIM “Pathways to Action” declaration, joining the United States and China in rejecting a binding pact on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). Indian officials promoted a loose, voluntary framework emphasizing transparency, risk limits, and a ban on AI‑augmented nuclear decision‑making, citing the dual‑use nature of AI that blurs civilian‑military lines. The stance reflects urgency to install guardrails now, with the possibility of tighter rules once norms solidify [2].
Indian Army showcases indigenous dual‑use AI solutions at the summit On 17 February 2026, the Army demonstrated homegrown platforms such as AI Examiner, SAM‑UN, EKAM, and PRAKSHEPAN, highlighting applications ranging from training assessment to early‑warning climatology. Security demos featured XFace facial‑recognition, deep‑fake detection, and AI‑driven cyber‑defenses, underscoring a push for self‑reliance and disaster‑resilience. The exhibition framed AI as a strategic asset that can serve both defence missions and civilian emergency response [4].
Sources
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1.
The Hindu: Experts Call for Social Good, Guardrails and Governance at 2026 AI Impact Summit – Provides a real‑time overview of the summit’s agenda, emphasizing expert calls for societal benefits, security safeguards, and collaborative governance .
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2.
The Hindu: India’s Push for a Non‑Binding Military AI Framework After REAIM Abstention – Details India’s decision to abstain from the REAIM pledge, outlines its proposed non‑binding safeguards, and explains challenges in regulating dual‑use AI .
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The Hindu: India Positions “Third Way” AI Governance at Delhi Summit – Describes the “Third Way” model, the February 10 labeling amendment, and the framework’s focus on inclusive development and strategic autonomy .
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4.
The Hindu: Indian Army showcases homegrown dual‑use AI at India AI Summit – Reports on the Army’s exhibition of indigenous AI tools, highlighting dual‑use capabilities for defence and civilian disaster management .
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Timeline
2024 – India rejects the 2024 Blueprint for Action and the REAIM “Pathways to Action” declaration, labeling a legally binding LAWS instrument “premature” and advocating a flexible, non‑binding accountability framework instead [3].
2025 – The UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons’ Group of Governmental Experts meets twice without issuing recommendations, leaving lethal autonomous weapons systems undefined and unregulated [3].
Nov 2025 – India releases its “Third Way” AI governance guidelines, focusing on adoption, diffusion, diplomacy and capacity‑building to scale AI for inclusive development in health, agriculture, education and public administration while using existing legal structures [2].
Dec 29, 2025 – Analysts note that India governs AI mainly through the IT Act and related rules, lacking a dedicated consumer‑safety regime; they recommend stronger downstream regulation, incident reporting, expanded compute access and workforce upskilling to build a frontier‑model ecosystem [5].
Feb 10, 2026 – The government amends the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, mandating platforms to label AI‑generated content and to remove harmful material within three hours, marking the first compulsory AI‑disclosure requirement [2].
Feb 17, 2026 – The Indian Army unveils an indigenous AI suite at the India AI Summit in Bharat Mandapam, demonstrating dual‑use tools such as AI Examiner, SAM‑UN, EKAM, PRAKSHEPAN, XFace deep‑fake detection and AI‑in‑a‑Box to boost defence readiness, disaster resilience and cybersecurity [4].
Feb 18, 2026 – India abstains from signing the REAIM pledge, citing the dual‑use nature of AI and the need for non‑binding, transparency‑focused safeguards; it warns that binding LAWS rules are “premature” and proposes voluntary confidence‑building data exchanges [3].
Feb 18, 2026 – At the AI Impact Summit, India puts forward a “Third Way” governance model distinct from the EU’s compliance‑heavy regime, the US’s hands‑off stance and China’s centralized approach, emphasizing strategic autonomy, public‑private partnerships and a 12‑month test phase to balance innovation, security and welfare [2].
Feb 19, 2026 – Experts at the 2026 AI Impact Summit call for AI applications that serve social good, demand robust guardrails and an effective governance framework, while The Hindu publishes a five‑article editorial series offering diverse expert perspectives on AI’s societal role [1].
All related articles (5 articles)
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The Hindu: Experts Call for Social Good, Guardrails and Governance at 2026 AI Impact Summit
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The Hindu: India’s Push for a Non‑Binding Military AI Framework After REAIM Abstention
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The Hindu: India Positions “Third Way” AI Governance at Delhi Summit
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The Hindu: Indian Army showcases homegrown dual‑use AI at India AI Summit
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The Hindu: India urged to expand AI rules, widen access, and upskill workforce
External resources (2 links)
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