India must walk the talk on AI leadership

(Shefali Malhotra – East Asia Forum) Global AI governance has shifted from frontier risk mitigation towards development outcomes, with India’s 2026 AI Safety Summit centring the agenda around the Global South. While India has positioned itself as a responsible AI leader on the world stage, championing safety and development, its domestic AI governance framework relies on voluntary industry measures, optional incident reporting and institutions that exist in name only. While India’s contribution to shifting global AI debates towards Global South needs is valuable, it requires New Delhi to establish accountability structures to back it up at home. – India must walk the talk on AI leadership | East Asia Forum