Deutschland und Indien schließen Pakt für KI

18.02.2026, Pressemitteilung

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Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology of
the Republic of India and Karsten Wildberger, Federal Minister for Digital
Transformation and Government Modernisation of the Federal Republic
of Germany, met on the margins of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on
February 18, 2026.

The Ministers reaffirmed the strong and trusted partnership between
Germany and India, grounded in shared democratic values, respect for
the rule of law, and a commitment to shaping digital transformation in a
human-centric, inclusive, development-oriented approach, and
responsible manner. They recalled that digital cooperation has become
important in India-German relations, institutionalised through the India-
German Digital Dialogue since 2017 and further strengthened through the
signing of the Work Plan 2026-2027 on January 16, 2026, in Berlin.

Against the backdrop of rapid advances in artificial intelligence and their
far-reaching economic, societal, and developmental implications, the
Ministers agreed to launch an India-Germany AI Pact as a flagship
initiative to translate dialogue and engagements into concrete,
implementation-oriented bilateral cooperation.

The India-Germany AI Pact
The India-Germany AI Pact aims to establish a partnership focused on
implementation-driven collaboration, across government, industry,
research, skill-development and innovation.
It reflects the shared conviction that AI should drive innovation, strengthen
economic growth and competitiveness, boost productivity and
manufacturing capabilities and support sustainable development while
being developed and deployed in a manner that is safe, trustworthy and
beneficial to society.

Under the AI Pact, Germany and India intend to advance cooperation in
the following priority areas:

1. AI for Industry and Manufacturing
Recognising the transformative potential of AI for manufacturing and
strategic sectors, the Pact will promote collaboration on industrial AI,
including use cases in infrastructure, mobility, energy, healthcare,
agriculture, productivity and smart manufacturing. Germany and India will
encourage partnerships between start-ups, tech companies, SMEs,
industry associations, to foster cross-border partnerships on AI
technology, accelerate AI adoption, and enhance productivity and
competitiveness. To this end, both countries have agreed to set up
dedicated points of contact in the near future to assist cooperation
between industry associations and tech-organisations.

2. Trustworthy and Ethical AI
Both sides will deepen exchanges on responsible AI, including exchange
of experiences related to the EU AI Act and national policies of India as
well as data privacy regulations. Cooperation will focus on transparency,
risk-management and responsible development and deployment of AI,
while avoiding unnecessary and restrictive regulatory frameworks that
could restrict innovation and hinder economic growth.

3. Talent, Skills, Mobility, Technology
The Ministers highlighted that access to skilled talent is a critical enabler
for creating AI ecosystems. Under the AI Pact, both sides will strengthen
cooperation on AI skill development, training, and talent promotion
including through networking between industry, start-ups, and research
institutions.
To this end, it is agreed to identify research institutes on both sides to
facilitate cooperation in training, skill development and talent promotion. It
is also agreed to set up a dedicated point of contacts in both countries in
line with applicable domestic laws to facilitate mobility of students and
skilled professionals from India under the recent European initiatives

4. Research, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Germany and India will explore joint research in AI, including cooperation
on building AI infrastructure, strengthening compute capacity, and
developing sector-specific models such as language and vision models.
The Pact will support collaboration between research institutions, start-
ups and technology companies to advance applied research, support AI
applications, and accelerate commercialisation.

5. AI for Social Good
Both sides expressed interest in exchanging best practices on the use of
AI to enhance efficiency in governance, public service delivery and public
participation. Cooperation will also explore exchange of best practices,
knowledge, learnings on AI applications for social good, aligning with
sustainability, inclusivity, and accessibility objectives.

6. Implementation and Next Steps
The Ministers agreed that the India-Germany AI Pact will be implemented
through the established India-German Digital Dialogue. The identified
areas would also be implemented through multi-stakeholder
engagements by bringing industry, private sector, research institutes,
academia. As an initial step, both sides will designate focal points from
both governments to develop a focused work programme under the Pact,
building on the AI chapter of the Work Plan 2026-2027 and identify early
pilot initiatives and deliverables.

The Ministers committed to maintaining regular exchanges to review the
progress of the Pact. They expressed confidence that the India-Germany
AI Pact will strengthen bilateral cooperation and deliver tangible outcomes
to ensure mutual benefits