Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 called for broad and inclusive access to artificial intelligence technologies, asserting that cyberspace must serve the global public good and that all democratic nations must be equipped to protect their critical information infrastructure.

Context

In the post, Prime Minister Modi stated that 'India firmly believes that cyberspace has to be one that furthers the global public good' and that 'access to AI technologies must also be broad and inclusive.' He added that 'all democratic countries should have access to such AI models so that they can protect their critical information infrastructure.' The statement positions AI access as both a developmental right and a national-security necessity for democracies worldwide.

The remarks come as global debates intensify over the concentration of advanced AI capabilities within a handful of nations and private corporations, raising concerns about asymmetric technological power and the vulnerability of countries that lack sovereign AI capabilities.

Policy Backdrop

India has been a consistent advocate for multipolar digital governance. As a founding member of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI) since 2020, India has pushed for responsible and inclusive AI development aligned with democratic values. In 2023, India hosted the GPAI ministerial meeting, where it stressed responsible AI use and data sovereignty among member nations.

At the UN Summit of the Future in 2024, India called for democratising access to frontier technologies, including AI. Domestically, the IndiaAI Mission, launched in 2024, aims to build indigenous AI capabilities while supporting broader international cooperation on safe AI deployment. Wednesday's statement by Prime Minister Modi reinforces this established policy trajectory, framing AI access as inseparable from a nation's ability to safeguard its sovereign digital infrastructure.

India's position also builds on its earlier stances within the G20 and Quad frameworks on digital public goods and secure technology supply chains, signalling a coherent long-term strategy to counter concentrated control of AI by a few dominant players.

Stakeholders and Impact

The call directly addresses democratic governments and critical infrastructure agencies across the world — particularly those in the Global South that currently lack access to frontier AI models. For these nations, dependence on a narrow set of AI providers creates strategic vulnerabilities in sectors ranging from energy grids and financial systems to defence networks.

The statement also carries implications for multilateral technology-sharing discussions within groupings such as the Quad and like-minded democratic partnerships. By explicitly linking AI access to the protection of critical information infrastructure, Prime Minister Modi elevates the issue from a developmental concern to a matter of collective democratic security.

What's Next

Upcoming sessions of the UN AI Advisory Body and GPAI plenaries are expected to be key arenas where norms around AI access and governance may be formalised. India's articulation of this position at the highest political level could shape its negotiating stance in those forums.

Potential bilateral technology-sharing agreements with Quad partners and other like-minded democracies may also follow, as nations seek to translate political alignment on AI principles into concrete capability-sharing arrangements. The broader question of whether international frameworks can keep pace with the rapid advancement of AI — and ensure that its benefits do not remain the exclusive preserve of a few — will define the next phase of global digital diplomacy.