The Embassy of France in India hosted yesterday a high-level discussion on Artificial Intelligence (AI) governance, co-organised with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in India and Access Now. The event brought together senior policymakers, experts, and civil society representatives to advance dialogue on the global governance framework for AI that optimizes the advantages of AI while minimizing its risks.
Following the Paris AI Action Summit held in February 2025 under joint French–Indian co-chairmanship, this discussion was held ahead of the upcoming AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Serving as a major pre-summit engagement, the event aimed to lay a well-informed and inclusive platform for stakeholders committed to shaping a rules-based, human-centred, open, and inclusive international framework for AI.
AI governance remains a core pillar of the India-France strategic partnership. This enduring commitment was reaffirmed through the landmark India-France Declaration on Artificial Intelligence, adopted during the visit of Prime Minister Modi in France in 2025. The declaration underscored both countries’ shared resolve to ensure that AI norms and standards reflect democratic principles while harnessing AI’s potential for human development and the global common good. France and India continue to work closely to advance the objectives outlined in this declaration.
The event began with a remote address by Ms Anne Bouverot, France’s Special Envoy for AI, underscoring the common thread between the Paris AI Action Summit and the New Delhi AI Impact Summit: broadening the multilateral conversation in order to tackle both challenges and opportunities offered by the development of AI. She referred to the Coalition for Sustainable AI, launched at the Paris summit, which aims to highlight the development and deployment of AI with global sustainability goals, including reducing emissions, decarbonizing economies and protecting ecosystems. Also launched at the Paris summit, multistakeholder initiative CurrentAI was conceived to build tools, shared infrastructure, and norms that ensure AI serves the public interest- a core theme of international governance discussions.
The discussions were structured around two thematic panels.
The first panel, moderated by Mr Huib Mijnarends, Deputy Ambassador, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New Delhi, examined the evolution of the global AI governance conversation, tracing its progression from the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit in 2023, to the Paris AI Action Summit in 2025, and towards the upcoming New Delhi AI Impact Summit in February.
The second panel focused on the ongoing development of AI regulatory frameworks, offering insights into emerging approaches and challenges as the international community prepares for the next global summit. Mr Arthur Barichard, Deputy Ambassador of France for Digital Affairs, participated in this panel to shed light on the importance of AI governance amid the tension between the need for various actors to take part to the global conversation on AI and the imperative to ensure that AI development remains ethical and socially beneficial. He insisted on the need for AI governance to be comprehensive, inclusive, and not limited to a few topics. It must also tackle the risk of market concentration so that everyone can benefit from its progress.
This discussion provided an opportunity for France to advance its strategic objectives in AI governance and deepen its engagement in the Indo-Pacific.
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