I praise India for having assumed leadership for AI Impact Summit: UN chief Guterres
United Nations (PTI): UN chief Antonio Guterres praised India for its leadership for the upcoming global summit on Artificial Intelligence, as he underlined that it is an “absolutely crucial issue” in international relations and one of the biggest challenges of the current times.
Secretary General Guterres will be travelling to India to attend the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 that will be held on February 19-20 in New Delhi.
The Summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South and will focus on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'.
“I will be there,” Guterres said at a press conference here Wednesday in response to a question by PTI about the summit.
“Well, I am delighted that I have the chance to participate in this meeting,” Guterres said.
“I do believe that AI today is an absolutely crucial issue in international relations and one of the biggest challenges of our times. So it is very important that countries come together and discuss it, also with civil society, in all kinds of circumstances,” the UN chief said.
“And I praise India for having assumed the leadership in relation to this summit,” he said.
The UN chief underscored that his message to the summit will be directly linked to the conclusions of the Global Digital Compact and to explain to the different Heads of State and entities attending the summit “what exactly will be the role of our international scientific panel, what do we expect from the dialogues and hopefully how can we better mobilize the international community to support capacity building in developing countries.
“And I believe that for India as a developing country, even with remarkable capacity already existing, I believe for India, this objective is the central objective of this summit,” Guterres said.
The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 is anchored in the principles of People, Planet and Progress, and envisions a “future where AI advances humanity, fosters inclusive growth, and safeguards our shared planet.”
The Global Digital Compact, adopted at the 2024 Summit of the Future, had set out a shared vision for an open, safe and inclusive digital future. Among its commitments was the creation of an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI to advance scientific understanding and ensure that international deliberations are informed by the best available evidence, the UN has said.
As part of this, Guterres has recommended 40 distinguished individuals from every region of the world to serve on the Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence.
“The Panel is a direct response to the mandate given by Member States in the Pact for the Future to strengthen multilateral solutions for emerging technologies that are reshaping every aspect of our lives. It will be the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies,” Guterres said.
Among the 40 individuals whose names the Secretary-General has recommended to the General Assembly for appointment to the panel is Balaraman Ravindran, Head of the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI), the Wadhwani School of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (WSAI) the Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (RBCDSAI) and the Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI) at IIT Madras.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
