India must build ‘strategic agency’ in AI, not just autonomy: Report
New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) India should convert its scale, talent and digital public infrastructure into lasting technological leverage in artificial intelligence (AI) rather than merely seeking ways to avoid dependence, a new report has said.
The report from India Narrative called AI a “deeply interconnected technological system”, which is bound to have dependencies and hence India should not fall into the illusion of targeting autonomy.
“The objective must be strategic agency: the ability to shape options, influence standards and make choices that others must take seriously,” former Indian Foreign Secretary, Nirupama Rao, wrote in a piece for the publication.
Artificial intelligence is a technological revolution, an economic opportunity and threat to employment, the report said, but beyond these, India should recognise that AI is quickly becoming an organising principle of international power.
AI will shape military capability, industrial competitiveness and diplomatic influence, Rao wrote, calling it the ground zero on which the future distribution of global power may be decided.
“The countries that dominate advanced computing, semiconductor design, data infrastructure, frontier models and the scientific talent behind them will possess advantages extending far beyond the technology sector,” the report said.
The opinion piece called for the policy makers to prioritise managed interdependence built on diversified partnerships, stronger domestic research and manufacturing, and investments in energy and computing infrastructure.
“France, Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries can be valuable partners in research, manufacturing, energy-efficient computing and governance. Singapore offers regulatory and technological sophistication,” the report mentioned.
Similarly, the Gulf states bring capital, energy and ambitions to become major centres of computing infrastructure.
India should also avoid the illusions that access to global markets makes domestic capability unnecessary.
The report suggested that strong indigenous competence in critical areas, diversified supply chains, trusted international partnerships and enough domestic knowledge to innovate can replace imported systems.
The report highlighted India’s strengths to scale AI power such as the country’s scale, huge technology workforce, a strong entrepreneurial sector, extensive digital public infrastructure and ties with advanced and developing economies.
India AI Mission aims to convert some of these strengths into national capability.
The government at the 2026 ‘India AI Impact Summit’ announced that over 38,000 GPUs had already been provisioned under the mission, with plans to add another 20,000.
—IANS
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