'Very successful emerging economy': UN chief hails India as AI Impact Summit host

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres connected Saturday endorsed India arsenic the cleanable big for the AI Impact Summit 2026 starting Sunday, praising the nation's increasing planetary power and palmy economy.

The first-ever AI acme successful the Global South volition beryllium held from February 16-20, bringing unneurotic satellite leaders, tech CEOs, and policymakers to sermon artificial intelligence's aboriginal portion ensuring its benefits scope everyone globally.In an exclusive interrogation with PTI, Guterres powerfully backed India's initiative, saying "I powerfully congratulate India for organising this Summit. It's perfectly indispensable that AI develops itself to the payment of everybody, everyplace and that countries successful the Global South are portion of the benefits of AI."

The UN main warned against AI becoming a privilege of developed nations oregon constricted to superpowers similar the US and China. He emphasized that AI indispensable service arsenic "a cosmopolitan instrumentality for the payment of humankind."Speaking astir India's relation successful planetary affairs, Guterres praised the country's presumption arsenic a cardinal emerging economy. He highlighted caller developments similar India's commercialized statement with the European Union arsenic affirmative steps toward existent planetary multipolarity.

“The relation of India, (which) is contiguous a precise palmy emerging system that is having a bigger and bigger relation successful not lone the planetary system but successful its power successful planetary affairs, India is the close spot to person this Summit and to marque definite that AI (is) being discussed successful depth, successful each its tremendous imaginable and besides successful each its risks, but that AI belongs to the full satellite and not lone to a few,” helium said.Further praising India, helium added, "I spot India successful the centre of those emerging economies, and this is thing I would beryllium delighted to sermon with Prime Minister Modi due to the fact that I person a batch of anticipation for the relation that India tin play successful shaping this multipolar world.”The UN main expressed his "frustration" with the Security Council's ineffectiveness and called for cardinal reforms to amended correspond today's world, referring to India playing a cardinal relation successful shaping a multipolar satellite order."There are 2 things we request to debar successful the world. We request to debar the strategy successful which determination is full hegemony by lone 1 powerfulness oregon a strategy successful which the satellite is divided betwixt 2 superpowers,” Guterres besides said.Guterres besides shared his idiosyncratic appreciation for India, describing his fascination with the country's affluent past and taste influence. He mentioned however he's presently speechmaking astir India's humanities interaction connected assorted regions, from China to Southeast Asia and adjacent the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire.The acme volition spot beingness from assorted satellite leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and tech leaders similar Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.The acme volition besides diagnostic different UN leaders, including Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk and Technology Envoy Amandeep Singh Gill, focusing connected the summit's halfway themes of 'People, Planet and Progress'.