Dialogue Perspectives of Strategic Foresight Group

The Strategic Foresight Group report, ‘India’s AI Gambit: Navigating the Global Race’ was launched in New Delhi on 15 January 2026 by Mr. Alok Joshi, Chairman of the National Security Advisory Board of the Government of India.

The speakers and participants included senior leaders from National Security Advisory Board, Indian defence forces, Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Invest India, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, retired ambassadors from the Ministry of External Affairs, heads of media companies, and CEOs of high-tech companies.

The high-level dialogue began with an Opening Address by Ambassador Pankaj Saran, Convenor of NatStrat and former Deputy National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister. He suggested that we should navigate the inevitability of the AI revolution, speed, and some of the dangers. He said: “The consequences of the choices we make today on AI will determine our existence as human race, and impact on ethics, on social and individual values, on privacy, on jobs, and on our security. What will happen to the nature of warfare, to nuclear weapons, and to lethality which transcends human control? Should the competition for AI supremacy be unbridled, above any ethical, moral and legal frameworks, or be guided by norms and rules at the national and international levels?”

Dr V K Saraswat, Member of the Niti Aayog, emphasised a calibrated and careful approach to strategic autonomy (by video). He said that AI is a fundamental layer of military power. Concentration of AI capabilities in a few countries and corporations raises concerns of technological dependence and erosion of sovereign decision making for others. Algorithmic dependence is particularly insidious. Lethal autonomous weapons, AI driven command and control and predictive logistics compress the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). For a sovereign state retaining human in the loop is an ethical and strategic issue.

The unique feature of the high-level dialogue was the emphasis on national security. In the context of Artificial Intelligence, it means developing response and prevention mechanisms to threats posed by advanced AI models, as well as the preparedness of the Indian military. It was probably the first time that issues related to the risks posed by autonomy escalation of advanced AI and their implications for national security were discussed in a gathering of senior policymakers in India. There were also discussions on strategic autonomy, scientific capacity, and sovereignty from an Indian perspective.

The dialogue was co-hosted by NatStrat and Founding Fuel with SFG. It was supported by CISB Services Private Ltd, a nationwide security services company. Mr Indrajit Gupta, Co-founder and Director of Founding Fuel curated the dialogue.

The report launched on the occasion recommends that it is important for the India’s National Security Council to play a central role in the AI policy. Sundeep Waslekar explained, after outlining some of the challenges of the global AI arms race:

“First and foremost, National Security Council should convene an urgent meeting to look at three things: One, is there any way we can stop or control or regulate the import of the AI models which pose any of these four risks. The ones which pose the possibility of making biological and chemical weapons, which will potentially enable disruption of nuclear weapons, which may have self-replication and which may go out-of-control. Two, is to explore whether you can introduce some kind of mandatory national security assessment card for every model that is either developed in the country or imported from outside. And the third is that the National Security Council needs to think whether it can create a mechanism which hour-by-hour is following new developments in AI from threat perspective.

The second part of this recommendation is that these matters have for far too long been managed in the circles of bureaucracy. Every major Parliament in the world is having a full-fledged discussion on AI, and what it means for their country. South Africa for the last two years has been debating AI. Brazil has been debating an AI Bill in the Parliament. South Korea is debating an AI Bill in Parliament. Angola just passed an AI Act. Angola is a small country of just 36 million people, and they passed a Bill which holds the big tech companies liable for threats to the Angolan citizens. The AI policy should be discussed from security, sovereignty and science point of view in the Indian Parliament.”

Anirudh Suri, well known author and scholar, anchored a panel discussion on indigenous capabilities and scientific leadership with Prof Manan Suri, head of a neuromorphic computer research project at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Dr Preeti Banzal of the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor and Air Marshal Sujeet Dharkar, former Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force. Prof Manan Suri highlighted the need for measuring the success of India’s AI gambit in terms of patents and ability to produce high quality original components of AI hardware. Prof Suri said that India’s future trajectory would depend on developing technologies that would reduce energy consumption in training models. Dr Banzal emphasised the government’s initiative to invest Rupees 150,000 crores for research and development.

Drawing similarities between air power and AI in terms of speed, flexibility and reach, Air Marshal Sujeet Dharkar suggested: “A mechanism supporting centralised planning and oversight, with decentralised execution, would serve well to harness the capabilities of AI while retaining requisite control and coordination amongst agencies involved with AI development. Quick building up of capability would require intelligent regulatory oversight, significant financial outlay and the harnessing of an accomplished workforce.”

Mr Alok Joshi, Chairman of National Security Advisory Board, concluded the high-level dialogue by urging the stakeholders to draw inspiration from the success of India’s space programme in developing cost-effective and responsible innovation.