The Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs has urged the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to develop a public technology vision and strategy document, expressing concern over the absence of a unified written framework linking technology with India’s foreign policy.
The committee, chaired by Shashi Tharoor, described the country’s current approach as “fragmentary, piecemeal and ad hoc”, stressing that individual achievements cannot replace a comprehensive national vision.
The panel recommended that the MEA collaborate with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and other departments to prepare the document, consulting academia, research institutions and industry. It also called for a separate technology diplomacy strategy for the MEA, with both documents to be made public and reviewed periodically.
To strengthen coordination, the committee proposed establishing a formal inter-ministerial body chaired by the MEA, with representatives from the IT, science, space and commerce ministries. The proposed mechanism would promote regular coordination on technology diplomacy rather than relying on case-by-case decisions.
The recommendations form part of the committee’s 17th report, adopted on September 22 and presented to the Lok Sabha Speaker on September 25.
Panel Recommends Updating India’s AI Strategy
The report acknowledged India’s strengths in artificial intelligence (AI) but highlighted persistent gaps in computing power, data centre capacity, access to advanced chips and private investment in large AI models.
It noted that NITI Aayog’s national AI strategy was drafted before the emergence of large language models. The committee recommended that NITI Aayog and MeitY revise the strategy in consultation with the MEA.
India has climbed from seventh to third place globally on the Stanford Global AI Vibrancy Tool, which compares national AI ecosystems. However, the committee cautioned that the gap between India and the United States and China remained substantial, describing it as “a difference of kind and not only of degree”.
The recommendations come as MeitY announced plans to release a consultation paper within a month as a preliminary step towards framing AI regulations. The proposed paper will focus on safety, humanity, skilling, inclusivity and harm mitigation.
Committee Seeks Verified Data Centre Statistics
The panel also questioned widely cited claims that India accounts for approximately 20% of the world’s data but only 3% of global data centre capacity. MeitY informed the committee that neither figure had been officially verified.
Industry estimates cited in the report suggest that India’s data centre capacity may need to increase from approximately 1.5 gigawatts in 2025 to between 5 GW and 10 GW by 2030.
The committee recommended that the MEA coordinate with MeitY and other ministries to collect and publish verified data. Such information, it said, would help guide international investments and strengthen technology partnerships.
