India, Feb. 19 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi by placing India's role in a global frame. With representatives from more than 100 countries in the room, he described India as a natural host for a conversation of this scale, not only because it represents one-sixth of humanity, but because it carries the world's largest youth population. He pointed to the energy on the ground, especially the strong presence of young builders, and to the exhibition of Made in India AI solutions spanning agriculture, security, accessibility for the differently-abled, and multilingual applications.

From the start, Modi treated AI as more than a technology wave. He presented it as a civilisational turning point, compar...