India has called for deeper international cooperation in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, digital technologies and innovation as Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada led the Indian delegation at the G20 Innovation Ministers’ Meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on September 1-2.
The meeting, hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, concluded with G20 ministers reaching consensus on the Innovation Ministerial Statement, which recognised the potential of emerging technologies to boost prosperity, productivity and opportunities.
The statement outlined broad agreement across six areas — pro-innovation policy frameworks, technology for opportunity and prosperity, development of a skilled technical workforce, intellectual property policies for AI, AI and standards, and industrial innovation and investment in supply chains.
The ministers also agreed on the Carolina Principles for Emerging Technologies, which call for greater investment in foundational research, stronger commercialisation pathways and trusted adoption of emerging technologies.
Other outcomes included the AI Prosperity Objectives and the AI Prosperity Compact, aimed at strengthening technical workforce development across G20 countries and expanding opportunities for private-sector partnerships.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Prasada held a series of bilateral discussions with senior officials from the European Union, France, Germany, the African Union and the United States.
During his meeting with European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, the two sides discussed strengthening cooperation in innovation and developing trusted digital ecosystems to support technology-led growth.
With French Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs Anne Le Hénanff, Prasada discussed expanding cooperation in AI and digital technologies and building partnerships for a trusted digital future.
India-Germany cooperation in technology, innovation and research was discussed during meetings with German Parliamentary State Secretaries Thomas Jarzombek and Dr Silke Launert.
In discussions with African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Prof Gaspard Banyankimbona, India reiterated its commitment to deeper partnerships with African countries, including by offering India Stack and other Digital Public Infrastructure solutions.
Prasada also held talks with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on strengthening cooperation in semiconductors, AI and data centres. He encouraged greater US investment in India’s India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and proposed stronger AI technology partnerships, including mechanisms for AI safeguards.
The minister separately met Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown to discuss the rapidly evolving AI landscape and potential collaboration in developing AI benchmarks suited to the Indian context.
Following the G20 engagements, Prasada visited Duke University, where he met senior leadership, faculty and researchers to explore collaboration in technology, engineering, AI, computer science, research and healthcare.
He also visited the Robotics Laboratory at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering and interacted with researchers working on robotics, biomedical simulation, AI-enabled sensing, biomedical data and machine learning.
The engagements highlighted India’s growing role in shaping the global technology and innovation agenda and its efforts to build strategic partnerships that translate advances in AI, semiconductors, digital public infrastructure and robotics into economic opportunities and improved quality of life.
