Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for an international agreement on artificial intelligence to prevent its misuse while addressing world leaders at the G20 summit in Johannesburg. Speaking during a session focused on creating a fair future through critical minerals, decent work, and AI, the Indian leader outlined a comprehensive vision for responsible artificial intelligence development.
India's Human-Centric AI Vision
During his address on Sunday, November 24, 2025, Prime Minister Modi emphasized that India's approach to artificial intelligence rests on three fundamental pillars: access, skilling, and responsible deployment. He detailed how the India-AI Mission is working to develop accessible high-performance computing infrastructure that would ensure AI benefits reach every district and support every language across the country.
This technological democratization will provide both scale and speed to our human development efforts, Modi told the gathering of global leaders. The Prime Minister stressed that while harnessing AI's potential, the world must simultaneously ensure the technology serves global good rather than causing harm.
Proposed Global Framework for AI Governance
The Indian Prime Minister proposed the creation of a global compact on artificial intelligence built upon essential principles that would govern its development and application worldwide. This framework must include effective human oversight, safety-by-design approaches, transparency mechanisms, and strict prohibitions on using AI for creating deepfakes, criminal activities, and terrorist operations, Modi asserted.
He further elaborated that AI systems impacting human life, security, or public trust must be designed with responsibility and auditability as core features. Most importantly, the Prime Minister emphasized that while artificial intelligence can enhance human capabilities, the ultimate decision-making authority must always remain with human beings.
India's AI Impact Summit 2026 Invitation
In a significant diplomatic move, Prime Minister Modi extended a formal invitation to all G20 member nations to participate in the AI Impact Summit scheduled to be held in India during February 2026. This global gathering aims to further the discussions on creating international standards and cooperation mechanisms for artificial intelligence development and governance.
Modi also highlighted the need for a fundamental shift in how critical technologies are promoted globally. As technology advances, both opportunities and resources are becoming increasingly concentrated in few hands, he observed, noting that this concentration poses concerns for humanity and creates obstacles to innovation.
The Prime Minister advocated for promoting technology applications that prioritize being human-centric rather than finance-centric, global rather than merely national, and following open-source models rather than exclusive ones. He pointed to India's record of having the highest number of digital payments in the world as evidence of successfully implementing this inclusive technology vision.
During the sidelines of the G20 leaders' summit, Prime Minister Modi also held bilateral meetings with several world leaders, including Japan's newly appointed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Canadian PM Mark Carney, discussing enhanced cooperation in innovation, defense, and trade relations.
