Union Minister of State Shri Jitin Prasada led the Indian delegation at the G20 Innovation Ministers' Meeting held on September 1-2, 2026 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. The delegation included Shri Ajit Kumar, Joint Secretary from MeitY, and senior officials from MeitY, Department of Science and Technology, and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, along with officials from the Indian Embassy in the US.
At the conclusion of the ministerial, G20 Ministers reached consensus on the Innovation Ministerial Statement which recognizes that emerging technologies have the potential to unlock prosperity, enhance productivity, and expand opportunity. The consensus statement articulates shared agreement across six pillars: pro-innovation policy frameworks, technology for opportunity and prosperity, skilled technical workforce development, intellectual property policies for artificial intelligence, AI for standards and standards for AI, and industrial innovation and investment in supply chains. Ministers also reached consensus on the Carolina Principles for Emerging Technologies, which call on countries to invest in foundational research, strengthen commercialization pathways, and enable trusted technology adoption and deployment. Other deliverables included the AI Prosperity Objectives and the AI Prosperity Compact, which will further technical workforce development across G20 nations and expand opportunities for private sector partnership.
On the sidelines, the Minister held several bilateral discussions. With EU Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen, discussions focused on strengthening cooperation in innovation and building trusted digital ecosystems for technology-led growth. With French Minister Delegate Anne Le Hénanff, both sides discussed advancing cooperation in AI and digital technologies. With German Parliamentary State Secretaries Thomas Jarzombek and Dr. Silke Launert, opportunities to deepen India-Germany collaboration in technology, innovation and research were explored. With African Union Commissioner Prof. Gaspard Banyankimbona, commitment to deepening partnership with Africa was highlighted through offering India Stack digital solutions including DPI to African countries.
In the bilateral discussion with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, both sides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation across semiconductors, AI and data centers. The Indian Minister encouraged more US investments in ISM2.0, proposed strengthening AI technology partnership, and shared mechanism for safeguards for AI. The Minister also engaged with Tom Brown, Co-founder of Anthropic, discussing the rapidly evolving AI landscape and possibilities for collaboration to develop benchmarks for the Indian context.
Following the G20 engagements, the Minister visited Duke University where he interacted with senior leadership and faculty on areas of mutual interest including technology, research, engineering, artificial intelligence, computer science and healthcare. The visit included a tour of the Robotics Laboratory at the Pratt School of Engineering, engaging with researchers working at the intersection of robotics, biomedical simulation, AI-enabled sensing, biomedical data, and machine learning. The interactions underscored significant potential for deepening academic and research collaboration between India and the United States in emerging and transformative technologies.
The engagements demonstrated India's growing role in shaping the global technology and innovation agenda and reaffirmed its commitment to building strategic partnerships that translate advances in AI, semiconductors, DPI, robotics and other emerging technologies into greater opportunities for innovation, economic growth and improved quality of life.