MANAV: Human-Centric AI Takes Spotlight at India’s Global Summit

By the third day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 , the conversation in New Delhi had moved decisively beyond celebration to calibration. The world’s political leaders and technology pioneers, gathered at Bharat Mandapam, turned their attention to a harder question: who shapes artificial intelligence and on whose terms?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his address to anchor the debate in governance. Introducing the M.A.N.A.V. framework Moral and Ethical Systems, Accountable Governance, National Sovereignty, Accessible and Inclusive AI, and Valid and Legitimate systems he framed India’s vision as one that seeks to balance innovation with responsibility. AI, he argued, must remain human-centric, “an open sky for innovation, but command in human hands.”

The address was itself a demonstration of applied AI. Delivered with real-time dubbing in 11 Indian languages and accompanied by AI-powered sign language interpretation, the speech showcased how technology can expand participation rather than narrow it. Accessibility, officials said, is not an add-on it is central to India’s AI strategy.

Global participation remained robust. French President Emmanuel Macron , UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres , IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva , and leaders from Europe, Asia and the Global South engaged in plenaries and bilateral discussions. Sovereign AI frameworks, digital public infrastructure and cross-border transparency standards dominated the agenda.

Industry leaders matched the policy urgency. Sundar Pichai spoke of India’s expanding AI footprint, while Sam Altman reiterated that democratisation of AI is the safest and fairest path forward. Executives from Microsoft, Meta, Anthropic, Adobe and NVIDIA debated compute equity, watermarking standards and safety guardrails for frontier models.

Yet even as leaders called for unity, a fleeting moment on stage revealed the competitive undercurrents shaping the AI race. During a symbolic gesture of solidarity, Altman and Dario Amodei hesitated to raise their hands together, opting instead for an awkward, non-touching pose. The episode, quickly amplified online, served as a subtle reminder that rivalry and philosophical differences continue to define the frontier AI ecosystem.

Investment momentum also remained a key theme. Announcements across the summit signaled billions of dollars flowing into hyperscale data centres, renewable-powered compute infrastructure and sovereign cloud capabilities. For policymakers, the message was clear: AI leadership now hinges as much on energy capacity and chip access as on algorithms.

Working groups aligned to the pillars of People, Planet and Progress pressed ahead with draft frameworks on AI safety norms, workforce reskilling, climate modelling and misinformation safeguards. Watermarking standards and authenticity labels featured prominently amid global concerns over deepfakes and election interference.

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak observed that while Western societies often approach AI with caution, India’s public optimism offers a unique opportunity to deploy technology at scale provided trust is maintained through visible public benefit.

At the India AI Impact Expo, practical applications reinforced that narrative. AI-driven agricultural diagnostics, multilingual education platforms, healthcare screening tools and disaster response systems illustrated how deployment at population scale may become India’s defining advantage.

As the summit moved into its closing stretch, one conclusion crystallised: artificial intelligence will not be shaped by breakthroughs alone, but by governance choices made today. Through the M.A.N.A.V. doctrine, India signaled its ambition to help write those rules advocating not just for smarter machines, but for a more accountable and human-centred intelligence era.