Global IndiaAI Summit 2024 is scheduled to be held on July 3rd and 4th, 2024 as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is all set to host an esteemed gathering of international delegates, AI experts, and policymakers at the summit. This summit marks a pivotal moment for India as it underscores its commitment to fostering responsible artificial intelligence (AI) development on a global scale.

The Global IndiaAI Summit will be inaugurated by Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology , Railways, and Information & Broadcasting and Shri Jitin Prasad, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Commerce and Industry will also be speaking at the inauguration.

A commitment to responsible AI development

Organized against the backdrop of India’s leadership role in the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), the summit aims to set new benchmarks in addressing the multifaceted challenges and opportunities presented by AI. With a thematic focus on Compute Capacity, Foundational Models, Datasets, Application Development, Future Skills, Startup Financing, and Safe and Trusted AI, the event promises comprehensive discussions that span the entire AI spectrum.

Day 1: Setting the Stage

The Day 1 of the summit will feature a diverse array of sessions designed to delve deep into critical aspects of AI application and governance. Notable sessions include “IndiaAI: Large Language Models” exploring how advanced AI models can navigate India’s linguistic diversity while upholding ethical standards. Concurrently, the GPAI Convening on Global Health and AI will gather insights into leveraging AI for healthcare in underserved regions, positioning India as a catalyst for inclusive healthcare innovation.

“Real World AI Solutions” and “India’s Infrastructure Readiness for AI” will spotlight practical AI implementations and the foundational infrastructure needed to support AI-driven initiatives across sectors. Meanwhile, discussions on “Ensuring Safety, Trust, and Governance in the AI Age” will underscore India’s commitment to ethical AI deployment, emphasizing global cooperation and regulatory frameworks.

Day 2: Empowering the Future

The second day will pivot towards nurturing talent and scaling AI innovations. “Empowering Talent through AI Education & Skilling” aims to bridge the AI skills gap by spotlighting educational strategies and career pathways. Simultaneously, “AI for Global Good: Empowering the Global South” will facilitate dialogues on inclusive AI development, echoing India’s advocacy for equitable global AI access.

“From Seed to Scale—Empowering India’s Startup Ecosystem” will highlight initiatives that foster AI entrepreneurship, crucial for propelling India’s startup ecosystem onto the global stage. Discussions on “Data Ecosystem” and “AI Competency Framework for Public Sector” will explore robust data governance and AI readiness in public administration, which are essential for effective policy formulation and implementation.

Detailed agenda for Global IndiaAI Summit 2024 can be accessed here.

Charting the course for responsible AI

The Global IndiaAI Summit 2024 serves as a pivotal platform for global stakeholders to collaborate, innovate, and shape the future of AI. India reiterates its commitment to harnessing AI’s transformative potential by prioritizing responsible AI development while safeguarding ethical standards and inclusivity. As the summit unfolds, it is poised to reinforce India’s leadership in the global AI landscape, paving the way for a future where AI benefits are accessible to all and contribute significantly to socio-economic advancement worldwide.

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 The Army Welfare Placement Organisation (AWPO) today, organised the AWPO Summit 2024 in Manekshaw Centre, New Delhi. The Summit witnessed convergence of notable personalities from various sectors to include veteran entrepreneurs, veterans leading in the field of businesses and industry, corporate entities, representatives from government and social sector. 

The aim of the Summit was to bring together different stakeholders on a common platform, to bridge the gap between requirements of enterprise and core competencies possessed by the veterans. While the demand for a skilled and experienced workforce exists at the industry end, a disciplined human resource pool of veterans with adequate experience and unique skill sets exit from active service each year. Such a resource pool provides an opportunity to the industry to absorb this workforce. The Summit was an endeavour to synergise the two converging requirements. The AWPO Summit assisted in strengthening the linkages of the veteran community with the industry, PSUs and Quasi Government organisations. The presence of Corporate Heads, representatives of Industry, Start Ups, Ministry and Government Officials in the Summit, underscored this facet.

General Manoj Pande, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), in his remarks, emphasised the invaluable contributions of veterans to the nation’s prosperity and reiterated the commitment of the Indian Army to facilitate their integration into various sectors. He said that veterans bring with them, a unique set of qualities and experiences that can be harnessed by the industry. He acknowledged the opportunities provided by several corporate houses and enterprises to veterans and added that veterans bring with them a unique set of qualities and experiences. The COAS mentioned that services to the nation by the veterans do not end when they bid farewell to military life, instead it transitions into a new chapter or second innings of dedication and commitment to the society and nation building. He urged all to recognize the potential of the words – ‘भूतपूर्व सैनिक, अभूतपूर्व योगदान’.

The COAS underscored that Indian Army has undertaken the process of holistic skill certification, as per the core competency of each individual, in collaborative efforts with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. He also mentioned that initiatives such as Project KAUSHALVEER help serving personnel in acquiring certification for skill sets as per established industry standards thereby meeting the requirements of both stakeholders. He mentioned that the veterans, with diverse knowledge, experience, managerial acumen and adaptability can contribute in fields such as entrepreneurship, HR consultancy, mentorship, education, crisis management, infrastructure development, healthcare etc.

The COAS further highlighted that Veer Naris also bring with them unparalleled determination and resilience and urged the entrepreneurs to integrate them as part of their initiatives on human capital intake, from the ‘uniformed community’. He emphasised that the Veer Naris also possess vocational skills, entrepreneurship acumen and aptitudes in many professional domains.

This Summit was an endeavour in Indian Army’s pursuit to evolve an institutionalised support eco-system for the veterans. Insightful perspectives were put forth by panelists from different fields on the entire landscape of avenues, potential, challenges and initiatives with respect to absorption of veterans into new roles. Veterans who have established themselves into a successful second career, also shared their experiences and success stories. The subjects were discussed across three main themes, aimed at fostering synergy between veterans and various sectors with an important role in nation building.

Theme 1: Harnessing Veterans’ Potential & Experience.  The panel for Theme 1 included distinguished Veteran Entrepreneurs such as Major V P Sharma (Retired) from Gratitude Farms, Colonel Subhash Deswal (Retired), the Carrot King of India, Naik Shivaji Dole (Retired), who took initiative to revive Venkateshwara Co-operative which practices agro farming, organic farming and water conservation, and Naik Daljinder Singh (Retired), an entrepreneur and established businessman. The discussion was moderated by Major General Ajay Singh Chauhan, Managing Director, AWPO and Brigadier Vikas Bhardwaj from the Directorate of Indian Army Veterans. The session focussed on veterans’ potential as entrepreneurs, success stories of achievers and the way ahead. The panelists delved into their inspiring journeys, challenges faced, and the roadmap ahead. Key points discussed were the unexplored potential of veterans in innovative sectors and strategic entrepreneurship that align with national growth imperatives.

Theme 2: Skills Required to Meet Public and Private Sector Needs.   Addressing the need for skilled workforce integration, the session highlighted the significance of the Skilling & Training Ecosystem. The panel for the theme included Colonel Sunil Prem (Retired) from Brisk Olive, Lieutenant Colonel Iqbal Singh (Retired) from Google India and Major Md Ali Shah (Retired). The discussion was moderated by Major General Deepak Sapra (Retired). The session focussed on skills needed in corporate/ industry and strengthening capabilities for veterans in the emerging industrial landscape. The panelists explored avenues, challenges, and strategies to effectively harness the unique skills and experiences veterans bring to the table. They underscored the essential role veterans play in bridging the skills gap in both public and private sectors and deliberated on the road map to explore the veterans’ potential.

Theme 3: Unveiling Opportunities for Veterans in India’s Growth Story.  This session explored the diverse skill sets of veterans, widows, and dependents, showcasing their potential in emerging sectors of both the public and private sectors. The panel for the theme included Major General Rajesh Jha (Retired), Director NEEPCO, Colonel RS Bhatia (Retired), Chairman & MD Bharat Forge Ltd, Mr Gurdeep Singh, CMD of NTPC and Ms Anuradha Prasad, Founder & CEO of India Leaders for Social Sector (ILSS). The session was moderated by Major General Ajay Singh Chauhan (Retired), MD, AWPO. The discussions centred around strategies to enhance veterans’ potential and opportunities in the social sector. This comprehensive dialogue addressed the multifaceted contributions and tremendous capacities of veterans in furthering India’s social and economic frameworks.

The Summit has been a catalyst for dialogue, collaboration and inspiration, spotlighting vital role of veterans in India’s progress. It is crucial for all industries to recognise and utilise unique strengths and skill sets of the veterans by having matching policies for their smooth transition into civilian roles. The nation’s growth hinges on nurturing the veterans, whose ongoing contributions are essential for sustained progress and collective wellbeing. Assimilation of skilled and disciplined resource pool of veterans into industry and services sectors will be a win- win situation for both and a game changing venture.

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 On the first day of the ‘AI Safety Summit 2023’ at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire in United Kingdom (UK), Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT, addressed the inaugural plenary session. He emphasized India’s perspective on Artificial Intelligence, emphasizing our nation’s commitment to AI with a strong focus on safety, trust, and accountability.

“We have maintained that international collaborations, such as these, are extremely important, as we move forward in shaping the future of technology in an era where it is presenting some of the most exciting opportunities ever for mankind. Our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has argued for several years that the future of technology, whether it involves innovation, partnerships, or the institutional framework for regulating technology and innovation for the benefit of all mankind, should be driven by a coalition of nations rather than just one or two countries. He believes that the institutional framework should be less episodic and much more sustained with strategic clarity,” the Minister said.

Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar apprised his international counterparts that India has effectively embraced technology under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, propelling the nation into a thriving digital economy, transforming the lives of its citizens. He emphasized that this transformation has ushered in tremendous opportunities, and will continue to do so through AI.

“Artificial Intelligence, as we see it, is a kinetic enabler of India’s already accelerating and expanding digital economy, growth and Governance. AI represents big opportunities for us, and we have our minds clear of what needs to be done to mitigate any potential downsides associated with AI or any emerging technology. We approach AI with a prism on openness, safety, trust, and accountability. As a government, we have learned that by allowing innovation to get ahead of regulation, we open ourselves to the toxicity and misinformation represented by social media on the internet today. It is clear that this is not the path we should chart for the coming years in terms of AI. AI should be utilized only for the good, only for the progress, and prosperity of all our citizens across all countries,” the Minister further added.

The ‘AI Safety Summit 2023’ has assembled representatives from around the world, including governments, prominent AI corporations, civil society organizations, and research experts. Its objectives are deliberating the risks associated with AI, particularly at the cutting edge of its development and exploring strategies for their mitigation through globally coordinated efforts.

This two-day summit has brought together Ministers and representatives from various countries, including the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, South Korea, among others.

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 On behalf of 140 crore Indians, I extend a hearty welcome to all of you at the G-20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit. This summit, in a way, is a ‘Mahakumbh’ or massive congregation of different parliamentary practices from around the world. All the delegates like you are experienced in the working style of different parliaments. Your visit to Bharat with such rich democratic experiences is a great pleasure for all of us.

This is the festive season in Bharat. These days, many festive activities take place across Bharat. But this time G-20 has sustained the enthusiasm of the festive season throughout the year. We hosted G-20 delegates in different cities of Bharat throughout the year. Consequently, an atmosphere of festivity was created in those cities. After this Bharat landed on the Moon. This further enhanced the celebrations across the country. Then, we hosted a successful G-20 summit here in Delhi. And now this P20 summit is taking place here. The greatest strength of any country is its people; the will power of its people. Today, this summit has also become a reason to celebrate this strength of the people.

The P20 summit is being held in Bharat, which is the mother of democracy, the largest democracy in the world. As representatives of various Parliaments around the world, you are aware that Parliaments are important places for debate and deliberation. We have very good examples of debates and deliberations that took place here even thousands of years ago. In our scriptures that are more than 5000 years old, in our Vedas, meetings and committees have been talked about. There, collective decisions were taken in the interest of the society. It is also said in our oldest Veda, Rigveda – संगच्छ-ध्वं संवद-ध्वं सं, वो मनांसि जानताम् । That means we walk together, we speak together and our minds are one. Even during that period, decisions related to villages were taken through debate in gram sabhas. 

When the Greek ambassador Megasthenes saw such a system in Bharat, he was surprised. He had written in detail on this system that prevailed in different states of Bharat. You will also be surprised to know that we have a 9th century stone inscription in Tamil Nadu. It mentions the rules and codes of village legislatives. And it will also be very interesting for you to know that on that 1200-years-old inscription, it is even written that which member could be disqualified, for which reason and under which circumstances. I am talking about 1200 years ago. I also want to tell you about Anubhava Mantapa. Even before Magna Carta, we have had a tradition of “Anubhava Mantapa” in the 12th century. Debate and discussions were encouraged in this as well. People from every class, every caste, every community used to go there to express their views in “Anubhav Mantapa”. This gift of Jagadguru Basaveshwara still makes Bharat proud. This journey from 5000 years old Vedas till today, this development of parliamentary traditions, is not only our heritage but the heritage of the entire world.

Bharat’s parliamentary processes have continuously improved over time and have become more powerful. In Bharat, we consider General Elections as the biggest festival. Since independence in 1947, 17 general elections and more than 300 State Assembly elections have been held in Bharat. Bharat not only conducts the world’s largest elections, but people’s participation in it is also continuously increasing. In the 2019 general elections, the countrymen have made my party victorious for the second consecutive time. The 2019 general election was the largest democratic exercise in human history. More than 60 crore i.e. 600 million voters participated in it. You can imagine, at that time there were 91 crore i.e. 910 million registered voters in Bharat. This is more than the total population of the entire Europe. The turn-out of around 70 percent of the total registered voters in Bharat shows how much trust people have in parliamentary practices in Bharat. And in this, an important factor was the maximum participation of women. Indian women voted in record numbers in the 2019 elections. And friends, not only in numbers but also in terms of political representation, you will not find any other example like Bharat’s elections in the world. More than 600 political parties took part in the 2019 general elections. In these elections, more than one crore i.e. 10 million government employees contributed to election work. More than 1 million or 10 lakh polling stations were set up in the country for the elections.

With time, Bharat has also integrated the election process with modern technology. Bharat has been using Electronic Voting Machines- EVMs for about 25 years. With the use of EVM, both transparency in elections and efficiency in the electoral process have increased. In Bharat, election results are declared within a few hours after counting begins. Now I am giving you another figure. You will be surprised to hear this as well. You must be aware that next year there is going to be general elections in Bharat again. 100 crore voters i.e. 1 billion people are going to cast their votes in this election. I extend an advance invitation to all the delegates of the P20 Summit to come and watch the general elections to be held next year. Bharat will be very delighted to host you once again.

Just a few days ago, the Parliament of Bharat has taken a very important decision, about which I want to make you aware. Bharat has decided to provide 33 percent reservation to women in its Parliament and state legislative assemblies. There are about 32 lakhs i.e. more than 3 million elected representatives in local self-governance institutions in Bharat. Of these, about 50 percent are women representatives. Today, Bharat is promoting women’s participation in every sector. The recent decision taken by our Parliament will further enrich our parliamentary tradition.

There is another crucial reason for the unwavering faith of the countrymen in the parliamentary traditions of Bharat, which is very important for you to know and understand. Our strength lies in our diversity, our vastness and our vibrancy. We have people of every religion here. Hundreds of types of food, hundreds of ways of living are our identity. Hundreds of languages are spoken in Bharat; we have hundreds of dialects. There are more than 900 TV channels in Bharat, in 28 languages working 24×7 to provide real-time information to the people. More than 33 thousand different newspapers are published here in about 200 languages. We have about 3 billion users on different social media platforms. This shows how massive and powerful is the flow of information and the level of freedom of speech in Bharat. In this world of the 21st century, this vibrancy of Bharat, unity in diversity, is our greatest strength. This vibrancy inspires us to fight every challenge and solve every problem together.

Today no one is untouched by whatever is happening in different corners of the world. Today the world is facing crises due to conflicts and confrontation. This world full of crises is not in anyone’s interest. A divided world cannot provide solutions to the major challenges faced by humanity. This is a time for peace and brotherhood; a time to move together; a time to move forward together. This is a time for growth and well-being of all. We have to overcome the global trust deficit and move forward on human-centric thinking. We have to look at the world in the spirit of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’. The greater the participation in making decisions related to the world, the bigger the impact will be. In this spirit, Bharat proposed to make the African Union a permanent member of G-20. I am glad that all the member countries accepted it. I am very happy to see the participation of the Pan Africa Parliament in this forum too.

I am told that our Speaker, Om Birla ji, is going to take you to the new Parliament House of Bharat this evening. There you are also going to pay tribute to Pujya Mahatma Gandhi. As you know Bharat has been facing cross-border terrorism for decades. Terrorists have killed thousands of innocent people in Bharat. Close to the new Parliament building you will also see the old Parliament of Bharat. About 20 years ago, terrorists had also targeted our Parliament. And you will be shocked to know that Parliament was in session at that time. The terrorists had planned to take the MPs hostage and to kill them. Bharat has reached here today after dealing with many such terrorist incidents. Now the world is also realizing how big a challenge terrorism is for the world. Wherever terrorism strikes, for whatever reason and in whatever form, it is against humanity. In such a scenario, we all will have to be extremely stringent all the time regarding terrorism. However, there is another global aspect to this, to which I would like to draw your attention. It is very sad that there is no consensus on the definition of terrorism. Even today the International Convention on Combating Terrorism is waiting for consensus in the United Nations. The enemies of humanity are taking advantage of this attitude of the world. Parliaments and representatives around the world will have to think about how we can work together in this fight against terrorism.

There can be no better medium than public participation to deal with the world’s challenges. I have always believed that governments are formed by majority, but the country is run by consensus. Our Parliaments, and this P20 Forum can also strengthen this sentiment. Our efforts to make this world a better place through debate and deliberations will definitely be successful. I am sure your stay in Bharat will be pleasant. I once again wish you all the success for this summit and a pleasant journey in Bharat.