At Tianjing Summit, India other SCO member countries commit to collaborate on AI

A news report dated September 1 says India joined other Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states in deepening cooperation on artificial intelligence. The step came through the Tianjin Declaration, which the organisation's heads of state signed and adopted at its 2025 summit. The report counts 10 member states in the grouping, along with two observer states and 14 dialogue partners.

The declaration builds on a UN General Assembly resolution on international cooperation in AI capacity building. It states that every country is equally entitled to develop and use AI. Member countries, India among them, expressed readiness to work together to prevent risks and to keep strengthening AI technologies on several fronts, including security, accountability, reliability and transparency, as well as inclusiveness, trustworthiness and fairness. They backed a roadmap for implementing the organisation's cooperation programme on AI development, dated Chengdu, 12 June 2025, and welcomed a UN resolution of 25 July 2025 that notes an initiative for a Regional Artificial Intelligence Centre in Dushanbe. Members also noted proposals for cooperation mechanisms on AI and on advanced technologies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the plenary that new centres are being set up to deal with organised crime, drug trafficking and cybersecurity, and he flagged cyber-terrorism as an emerging threat. Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed wider cooperation including on the digital economy and AI. The report adds background on India's AI activity: the IndiaAI Mission approved in 2024 with an allocation of Rs 10,300 crore over five years, a Japan-India Artificial Intelligence Initiative launched in Tokyo covering large language models, data centres and governance, an invitation to Japan's prime minister to India's AI Impact Summit in February 2026, and Modi's call for responsible AI governance at the BRICS outreach summit.