India formally invited China to participate in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit in February, underscoring a thawing in bilateral relations as both countries seek to build domestic AI capacity.
Answers to questions indian express In a press conference on Monday, IT Secretary S. Krishnan confirmed that New Delhi had sent a formal invitation to Beijing. India will host the fourth edition of the summit, which has previously been held in the UK, South Korea and France.
The AI Summit, which started in the UK in 2023, is not a formal grouping of countries. Invitations to countries to participate in the forum will be determined by the host country. When Britain hosted the first summit, there was pushback over the invitation to Beijing from some of Britain's closest allies and its own MPs, but the government ultimately pushed through. China also participated in two subsequent summits.
India will host the India AI Impact Summit 2026 from February 15 to 20 next year, and the forum will be held in the Global South for the first time. Rather than creating immediately binding regulations, this summit aims to generate actionable recommendations that contribute to long-term AI governance goals.
Krishnan said expected participants will include heads of government from around 15 to 20 countries and the world's leading figures in AI and technology.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the expo, host a dinner in the evening and is likely to address the CEO Roundtable,” the IT secretary said. “World leaders like Bill Gates have confirmed their attendance. We have also received confirmation from DeepMind Technologies CEO Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayan, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and FedEx CEO Raj Subramanyam,” Krishnan said.
“We have sent invitations to nearly 140 countries and have so far received around 15,500 registrations from 136 countries, 76 of which are in the Global South,” he said.
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India's invitation to China is another step towards easing bilateral relations. Earlier this year, direct flights between India and China resumed for the first time in more than five years. Similarly, China previously blocked applications by companies that supply parts of rare earth metals to Indian automakers after imposing blockades on critical minerals in response to U.S. tariffs, but has now begun allowing some applications.
Data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry earlier this month showed India's exports of goods rose 19% in November, supported by a weaker rupee and strong demand across markets including China, Europe and the United States, particularly for duty-free goods, narrowing the trade deficit to $24 billion, a five-month low.
Exports are showing strong signs of diversification, but exporters may also have benefited from recent tensions between China and Japan. As the Chinese government began restricting imports from Tokyo, India's exports to China, especially seafood, surged. Last month, India's exports to China increased by 90% and those to Hong Kong by 35%.
© Indian Express Private Limited
