"There's no way India can be out of picture when AI being discussed": Nivruti Rai reiterates PM Modi's message

While speaking at the Carnegie Global Tech Summit 2025 on Friday, she stated, "So I feel partnership should happen, and that's what AI is going to enable. Twenty per cent of the world's data is in India. PM Modi says there's no way India can be out of the picture when AI is being discussed."

"We believe the three critical requirements for any country company is technology, power and infrastructure. Technology like AI is going to make a difference, and they have many components, sub-components, and raw materials that will be required. So we will have to partner on all of those," she added.

Rai noted that India has strengths in terms of resources and scale, while the US has strengths in terms of capital and technology. She emphasized that both countries share a democratic vision, which can serve as a foundation for their partnership in AI.

"In terms of AI, I think power is important," Rai said. "There are strengths that India has in terms of resources and scale, and there are strengths that the US has in terms of capital and technology, and both of us have a democratic vision that we're working for."

Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation, highlighted the US-India partnership and said that it is expected to undergo significant changes under President Donald Trump's administration.

Despite the recent joint statement issued during PM Modi's US visit, which suggested continuity, Saran believes that the partnership will evolve in response to Donald Trump's transactional approach.

Saran noted that the US has shown remarkable confidence and congruence in its appreciation, assessment, and engagement with India, surpassing even India's self-understanding. "The US has more confidence and congruence in its appreciation, assessment, and engagement with India than we have it ourselves," Saran said.

Unlike the Biden administration, Trump's approach is expected to be more transactional, demanding performance from India and potentially driving growth in India's strategic capabilities. "Trump's transactional approach is going to demand performance from India," Saran said. Biden was lazy in his implementation. Trump is going to be extractive in the implementation."

Saran believes that this shift could benefit India, pushing the country to meet higher expectations from the White House and potentially gaining critical platforms for strategic deterrence and maritime domain awareness capabilities. "I think a little bit of continuity and a little bit of transactionalism could just be that right mix for us," Saran said.

The evolving partnership between the US and India is expected to be shaped by Trump's transactional approach, which may lead to increased cooperation in areas such as defense and technology.

"Trump, I think, is going to be more willing than anyone else and could be fueling India's strategic capabilities, deterrence capabilities, maritime domain awareness capabilities, giving us some of those critical platforms," he said.

Notably, the ninth Global Technology Summit (GTS), co-hosted with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, is being held from April 10 to 12, 2025, in New Delhi, with public sessions on April 11 and 12.

This year's theme, Sambhavna--meaning "possibilities" in Hindi--highlights the transformative potential of critical and emerging technologies to drive economic growth while shaping international relations, security frameworks, and global governance. (ANI)