Activities of Secretary-General in India, 18-22 February

On Wednesday, 18 February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in New Delhi, where he had been invited to take part in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit.

In the evening, he attended a dinner hosted by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, organized for high-level participants of the AI Impact Summit.

On Thursday morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening ceremony of the AI Impact Summit. In his remarks, he said that holding the Summit in India has special meaning and brings this conversation closer to the realities shaping much of the world, because the future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries and the whims of a few billionaires.

Last year, the General Assembly took two decisive steps, he said. First, by creating an Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence, and second, by launching a Global Dialogue on AI Governance within the UN, where all countries, together with the private sector, academia and civil society, can all have a voice.

He told participants that real impact means technology that improves lives and protects the planet. And he called on them to build AI for everyone, with dignity as the default setting.

After the opening ceremony, the Secretary-General took part in a plenary session with Heads of State and Government.

Throughout the day, he had exchanges and meetings with Government and tech leaders attending the Summit. He had bilateral meetings with the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, as well as with Dick Schoof, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Later in the day, the Secretary-General also met with the UN country team in India, and attended a reception hosted by our UN colleagues at UN House in New Delhi.

On Friday, 20 February, the Secretary-General took part in a round table organized by our UN colleagues to discuss renewable energy and energy transition. With India emerging as a global leader in renewable energy expansion, the discussion brought together senior figures from industry, finance, policy and civil society to identify concrete steps to further accelerate renewable energy deployment, strengthen grids and storage, and mobilize investment at scale. This engagement was part of the Secretary-General's continued efforts to advance a faster, fairer and more inclusive global energy transition, aligned with the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Following this event, the Secretary-General took part in a panel at the AI Impact Summit on the Role of Science in International AI Governance. In his remarks, the Secretary-General told participants that AI innovation is moving at the speed of light, outpacing our collective ability to fully understand it, let alone govern it.

If we want AI to serve humanity, he said, policy cannot be built on guesswork. We need the facts, we need trust and we need to share that trust across countries and across sectors. That is why the UN is building a practical architecture that puts science at the centre of international cooperation on AI, he said.

In the afternoon, the Secretary-General had bilateral meetings with Ms. Draupadi Murmu, President of India, as well as with Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

Throughout the day, the Secretary-General had exchanges with Government and tech leaders, including members of the newly created Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.

The Secretary-General left India on Sunday, 22 February.