Page 30 - Mann ki Baat English Feb 2026

India’s vision for Artificial Intelligence
draws from a timeless civilisational truth:
knowledge is not a private possession but
a shared inheritance to be debated, refined,
and disseminated for human prosperity.
From the Vedas onwards, Indian philosophy
has paired capability with restraint, creativity
with foresight, and scale with accountability.
Power, it insists, is never morally neutral.
Today, India is embarking on one of the
most ambitious technological journeys in
history: democratising intelligence for its 1.4
billion citizens. While much of the world sees
AI concentrating power in the hands of a
few, India is pursuing a different path—one
grounded in ancient wisdom, democratic
values and inclusive prosperity.
This vision crystallised at the India AI
Debjani Ghosh Impact Summit 2026 (February 16–20, New
Distinguished Fellow Delhi), where Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Niti Ayog described AI as a profound civilisational
moment. He unveiled the M.A.N.A.V. Vision—a
human-centric framework. “MANAV”
INDIA’S (Sanskrit for “human”) stands for:
•
Moral and Ethical Systems: AI guided by
strong ethical principles.
BOLD AI • Accountable Governance: Transparent
rules and robust oversight.
AMBITION • National Sovereignty: Data sovereignty
for those who generate it.
• Accessible and Inclusive: AI as an
Democratising • enabler, not a monopoly.
Valid and Legitimate: Lawful, verifiable
Intelligence for 1.4 systems.
The framework reaffirms that knowledge
Billion Citizens exists to serve humanity, not to dominate it.
The AI revolution has progressed in
phases: the first digitised information; the
second scaled compute and models for
breakthroughs. We now enter the third—
the democratisation of intelligence—where
real-time knowledge and decision support
reach every citizen to enhance skills,

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