New Delhi: The Hon’ble Union Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics & Information Technology and Commerce & Industry, Shri Jitin Prasada, led the Indian delegation at the G20 Innovation Ministers’ Meeting held on 1–2 September 2026 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States (US), hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). The Hon’ble MoS was accompanied by Shri Ajit Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), senior officials from MeitY,Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), as well as officials of the Embassy of India in the US.
At the conclusion of the Ministerial, the G20 Ministers released the Innovation Ministerial Statement recognizing that “emerging technologies have the potential to unlock prosperity, enhance productivity, and expand opportunity for all our peoples.”
The consensus statement articulates shared broad agreement across six pillars: pro-innovation policy frameworks, technology for opportunity and prosperity, skilled technical workforce development, intellectual property policies for artificial intelligence (AI), 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 of the Ministerial 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 of the G20 Ministerial, Hon’ble MoS held several bilateral discussions.
In his bilateral meeting with H.E. Henna Virkkunen, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, both discussed the importance of strengthening cooperation in innovation and building trusted digital ecosystems that enable technology-led growth and shared prosperity.
In the meeting with H.E. Anne Le Hénanff, Minister Delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs of France, both sides discussed advancing cooperation in AI and digital technologies. India and France remain committed to strengthening technology-driven innovation and building partnerships for a trusted digital future.
During the meeting with H.E. Thomas Jarzombek and H.E. Dr. Silke Launert, Parliamentary State Secretaries, Germany, Hon’ble MoS explored opportunities to further deepen India–Germany collaboration in technology, innovation and research, driving shared progress and future-ready partnerships.
In discussions with H.E. Prof. Gaspard Banyankimbona, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, African Union, the commitment to deepening partnership with Africa and creating new opportunities for shared growth and prosperity was highlighted by offering India Stack digital solutions including DPI to the African countries.
In the bilateral discussion with H.E. Howard Lutnick, US Secretary of Commerce, both sides exchanged views on strengthening cooperation across Semiconductors, AI and Data Centres. During the meeting, Hon’ble MoS also encouraged the possibility of more US investments in ISM2.0, proposed strengthening AI technology partnership and shared mechanism for safeguards for AI.
Hon’ble MoS also engaged with Tom Brown, Co-founder of Anthropic, and discussed the rapidly evolving AI landscape and opportunities emerging from advances in AI. Some key discussions included the possibility of collaboration to develop benchmarks for the Indian context.
Hon’ble MoS during Duke University Visit
Following the G20 engagements, the Hon’ble MoS visited Duke University, where he interacted with the senior leadership and faculty to exchange views on areas of mutual interest, including technology, research, engineering, artificial intelligence, computer science and healthcare. The visit also included a tour of the Robotics Laboratory at the Pratt School of Engineering, where the Hon’ble MoS engaged with leading researchers and experts working at the intersection of robotics, biomedical simulation, AI-enabled sensing and biomedical data, and machine learning. The interactions underscored the significant potential for deepening academic and research collaboration between India and the United States in emerging and transformative technologies.
The engagements during the visit underscored 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 an improved quality of life for its citizens.
