External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has emphasised the need to harness the possibilities offered by AI, anticipate its consequences and mitigate its risks. The Minister made these remarks while co-chairing an event on ‘AI in the Context of International Peace and Security, with an Emphasis on Maritime Security’, alongside Foreign Minister of Greece George Gerapetritis.
During the event, Dr Jaishankar reaffirmed that AI and maritime security remain important priorities for India at the United Nations. He highlighted that the New Delhi Declaration emphasises democratic access to AI resources, building secure and trustworthy systems, investing in human capabilities and harnessing AI for economic growth and social good. He also highlighted that, in the maritime domain, AI can enhance maritime domain awareness, search and rescue, disaster response, identification of suspicious activity and the resilience of ports and critical infrastructure. The Minister added that it can also enable sophisticated reconnaissance, vulnerability mapping and cyber operations targeting vessels, communication networks and undersea infrastructure.
Dr Jaishankar underlined that increasing autonomy in maritime systems raises questions of attribution, accountability and escalation, while also compressing decision-making time. The Minister pointed out that, in the maritime domain, the UN Charter and international law, including the law of the sea, remain essential frameworks governing State conduct. He underlined that greater transparency, confidence-building, capacity development, technical cooperation and the exchange of best practices are essential to ensure that AI is developed and used consistently with these principles.
