SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure | SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY)
The AI Impact Summit 2026 concluded in New Delhi with the adoption of the “New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact,” endorsed by 88 countries and international organizations. Inspired by the principle of “Sarvajan Hitaya, Sarvajan Sukhaya” (Welfare for all, Happiness for all), the Declaration establishes a voluntary, non-binding framework to ensure that AI’s benefits are equitably shared across humanity.
The landmark agreement is built upon seven key pillars (Chakras), including democratizing AI resources, human capital development, and energy-efficient AI systems. Key deliverables include the Charter for the Democratic Diffusion of AI, which promotes affordable access to foundational resources, and the Global AI Impact Commons, a platform designed to scale and replicate successful AI use cases for social good and economic transformation globally.
The Seven Pillars (Chakras) of the New Delhi Declaration
Democratizing AI Resources: Promoting affordable access to foundational AI models and robust digital infrastructure.
Economic Growth & Social Good: Leveraging open-source AI and wide-scale diffusion of use cases to drive development.
Secure & Trusted AI: Establishing the Trusted AI Commons to consolidate tools, benchmarks, and best practices for robust AI systems.
AI for Science: Connecting scientific communities through an International Network of AI for Science Institutions.
Access for Social Empowerment: Enabling equitable knowledge exchange through a dedicated social empowerment platform.
Human Capital Development: Equipping individuals with relevant skills via the AI Workforce Development Playbook.
Resilient, Efficient & Innovative AI: Focusing on energy-efficient infrastructure guided by the Voluntary Guiding Principles on Resilient AI.
What is the “Global AI Impact Commons”? The Global AI Impact Commons is a collaborative, practical platform introduced as part of the New Delhi Declaration to encourage the adoption, replication, and scale-up of successful AI use cases across different regions. It acts as a “Digital Public Good” repository where nations can share proven AI solutions for sectors like agriculture, healthcare, and education. By providing a framework for cross-country collaboration, the Commons helps developing nations bypass the high cost of original invention and focus on adapting existing high-impact models to meet their local socioeconomic needs.
Policy Relevance
For India, the New Delhi Declaration represents a transition from “Domestic AI Adoption” to “Global Standard Maker,” anchoring the world’s democratic AI governance in Indian values.
Standardizing “AI for All”: The declaration’s emphasis on equity and access positions India as the voice of the Global South in the digital era.
Bypassing the Invention Gap: Through the Global AI Impact Commons, India can share its BHASHINI voice-stack breakthroughs, allowing other nations to bypass literacy barriers in their own languages.
Operationalizing Workforce Reskilling: The AI Workforce Development Playbook directly supports the one million professional goal identified in the Pax Silica initiative.
Federal Compute Resilience: The Guiding Principles on Resilient AI provide the roadmap for building the energy-efficient data centres required by the IndiaAI Mission.
Implementation Fidelity via Trusted AI: Establishing the Trusted AI Commons ensures that Indian startups have access to the same high-tier benchmarks as global innovation leaders.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How should MeitY and NITI Aayog utilize the Charter for the Democratic Diffusion of AI to subsidize GPU access for deep-tech startups in aspirational districts?
Follow the full update here: Adoption of New Delhi Declaration on AI Impact