United Nations: India is a “very successful” emerging economy with a growing influence in global affairs and is the “right place” to host the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said. In an exclusive interview with PTI at the UN Headquarters ahead of the Summit, Guterres emphasised that Artificial Intelligence must serve the entire world and not become a privilege reserved for developed nations or limited to two superpowers. “I strongly congratulate India for organising this Summit. It’s absolutely essential that AI develops itself to the benefit of everybody, everywhere and that countries in the Global South are part of the benefits of AI,” he said.
The high-powered event, to be held from February 16 to 20, will be the first-ever AI summit hosted in the Global South. It is anchored in three guiding principles — ‘People, Planet and Progress’.
Guterres, who will travel to India to attend the Summit, asserted that “it would be totally unacceptable that AI would be just a privilege of the most developed countries or a division only between two superpowers”, an apparent reference to the United States and China. “It is absolutely essential that AI becomes a universal instrument for the benefit of humankind,” he said.
India at the centre of global AI and multipolar leadership
Highlighting India’s growing stature, Guterres described the country as “today a very successful emerging economy that is having a bigger and bigger role in not only the global economy but in its influence in global affairs.”
“India is the right place to have this Summit and to make sure that AI (is) being discussed in depth, in all its enormous potential and also in all its risks, but that AI belongs to the whole world and not only to a few,” he said.
The Summit will bring together world leaders and technology executives for in-depth deliberations on the future of AI. Among those expected to participate are French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Leaders, policymakers and innovators from across the globe are set to attend the event to chart a forward-looking agenda for AI development and governance.
Guterres had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last year on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg. He also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the latter’s visit to New York.
Underlining his long-standing advocacy for multipolarity, Guterres stressed India’s vital role in shaping a balanced global order. He said he looks forward to discussing this vision with Indian leadership during his visit to New Delhi.
“There are two things we need to avoid in the world. We need to avoid the system in which there is total hegemony by only one power or a system in which the world is divided between two superpowers,” he said.
Guterres described himself as a “very strong advocate” of true multipolarity. For such a system to succeed, he said, emerging economies must assume a “higher and higher” role in global governance and establish a “stronger and stronger” network of trade, technological and international cooperation.
India’s central role in multilateral reform and civilisational influence
In this context, he cited the recent trade agreement between India and the European Union as a positive example of constructive engagement. “India is one of the most relevant emerging economies,” he said.
“We are seeing across the world, more and more, the creation of a network of, I would say, all developed countries but also, and very importantly, emerging economies creating a true multipolarity without any hegemony, and allowing, then, multilateral organisations to be effective,” he added. Emphasising the urgency of reforming global institutions, Guterres spoke candidly about his frustration with the functioning of the United Nations Security Council, particularly its inability to address ongoing conflicts and maintain international peace and security.
“When one looks at the UN, you can imagine my frustration when I see the Security Council unable to take decisions, and it is clear that we need a fundamental reform of the Security Council, first of all, to represent the world as it is today and not after the Second World War. And second, to be able to take effective decisions for peace and security around the world,” he said.
He further stressed that for a fair multilateral system, both within the UN framework and in international financial institutions, emerging economies must have a stronger voice and occupy a central position in global decision-making structures. “I see India in the centre of those emerging economies, and this is something I would be delighted to discuss with Prime Minister Modi because I have a lot of hope for the role that India can play in shaping this multipolar world,” he said.
At the Summit in New Delhi, Guterres will be accompanied by senior UN officials, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk and the Under-Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Amandeep Singh Gill. Beyond geopolitics and technology, Guterres also expressed his admiration for India’s civilisation and cultural legacy. “It is always fantastic to go to India,” he said, describing the country as “a democracy with an enormous diversity and extraordinary civilisation and culture.”
Celebrating India’s civilisational legacy and the global vision for inclusive AI
The UN chief noted that he is currently reading about India’s historical influence on global civilisation, tracing its transformative impact over centuries.
“India, for centuries, has been the main factor of transformation of the world, starting hundreds of years before Christ and going on for centuries, with an enormous influence of Indian culture, of Indian civilisation that we can see in China, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean,” he said. He pointed out that even during the time of the Roman Empire, India maintained strong connections with other regions, exerting significant cultural influence in what is now the Mediterranean. “Even in the time of the Roman Empire, there were very strong connections with India and a very important influence of Indian culture in what is today the Mediterranean area.
“So it is always an enormous pleasure to visit India,” Guterres said. The India–AI Impact Summit 2026, positioned as a landmark global gathering in the Global South, is expected to serve as a platform for deep reflection on the opportunities and risks associated with Artificial Intelligence, while reinforcing the principle that AI must be inclusive, equitable and beneficial to all humanity.
