The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026 emerged as a powerful platform of ideas, vision and strategic dialogue, bringing together national leadership, global policymakers, industry leaders, defence strategists and thought leaders for two days of high-impact discussions in New Delhi.
Anchored on the theme of “Strength Within”, the summit spotlighted India’s expanding global stature, domestic transformation and its roadmap towards inclusive growth and strategic autonomy.
Addressing the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that India is once again focusing on the pillars that once made it a global economic force: manufacturing strength, quality products, and sound economic policies.
He noted that India’s progress is not the result of overnight achievements, but of collective resolve and resilience. He noted that the potential is not born suddenly in a country; it is built over generations. He underlined that in the last 11 years, a new energy has flowed into the national consciousness as India actively reclaims its lost potential.
On Artificial Intelligence, PM Modi underlined India’s shift from being a follower in past industrial revolutions to becoming a decision-shaping partner in the AI era. “In previous industrial revolutions, India and the Global South were merely followers. But in the era of Artificial Intelligence, India is a partner in decisions and shaping them. Today, we have our own AI startup ecosystem and are working rapidly on the power requirements for AI data processing.”
He also described the recently held AI Impact Summit attended by over 100 countries as a proud milestone.
Further, Union Minister for Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal highlighted India’s readiness to scale exports, deepen manufacturing and strengthen global supply chain leadership.
Speaking on trade discussions with the United States, he stated: “For us, the US is an important trading partner, a strategic and technological partnership… The US is an evolving situation. We are in dialogue with the administration in the US. We will have to wait and watch and ensure interests of India are protected. I want to assure that India stays committed to engaging for the best possible opportunities which were negotiated with the US for a deal that gives us a competitive advantage,” said Goyal.
Highlighting India’s rising economic strength, former Singapore foreign minister George Yeo termed the country’s development “self-sustaining” and strategically vital, positioning India as a key balancing force in Asia. Yeo said India had strengthened its global standing by taking tough economic and political decisions at critical moments. “India went through a very critical test when America put pressure, India did not buckle and because India did not buckle its standing in the world gone up,” he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted technology and infrastructure as twin engines of growth, especially in the context of Artificial Intelligence and digital trust. “The trust factor in deploying AI is important.”
Addressing concerns over job displacement, he pointed out that India’s IT sector has consistently adapted to disruption. “The biggest strength of our IT sector is to be able to go to an enterprise, understand how it works and, based on that, provide a solution. It was demonstrated during the Y2K problem,” he noted, recalling how Indian IT firms earned global credibility during the millennium bug crisis.
Whereas, Union Minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, Jyotiraditya Scindia revealed how India plans to lead the world in 6G. He said India’s 6G push follows a 2023 vision that mobilised the Bharat 6G Alliance across the value chain. “It’sfor the first time as we have adopted 6G that the Prime Minister set the vision in 2023. And he set the goal that the Bharat 6G Alliance… the whole value chain… is R&Ding 6G today.”
He added that India has partnered with similar platforms in more than 30 countries and that a proposal on universal connectivity has been admitted into global standard-setting.
The UK’s former Chief of Defence Staff, General Nick Carter, acknowledged India’s “political clout, leverage, and economic value,” stating that the country should have a seat at the table of great powers. On being asked what should be the way forward for India amid heightened geopolitical tensions and growing fragmentation in the global order, the global strategist said, “It’s entirely right that India has enough political clout, leverage and economic value to be able to be plough its own furrow… This year, we will probably find India becoming the fourth-largest economy in the world…India should have a seat at the great powers’ table, be it the Board of Peace or the UN Security Council.”
International engagement remained a cornerstone of the summit, with esteemed speakers from across continents participating in conversations on geopolitical realignment, sustainability, defence preparedness, AI governance and emerging growth corridors.
The other distinguished speakers included Carlos M. Gutierrez, former US Secretary of Commerce; ambassadors May-Elin Stener of Norway, Philipp Ackermann of Germany, and Jan Thesleff of Sweden; global tech and Apple expert Patrick McGee; military aviation historian Tom Cooper; and defence scholar and strategist Adrian Fontanellaz.
The diversity of participation reflected India’s expanding diplomatic and economic footprint on the global stage.
The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026 was supported by an esteemed group of partners who played a pivotal role in the success of the event. The Presenting Partner was Jio Financial Services, while the Co-Presenting Partners included PhonePe and DS Group. The summit was Powered By Pernod Ricard India and Kia Seltos as the Driven By Partner.
The Governments of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand joined as State Partners, ITC as the Bharat Growth Partner, WeWork India joined as the Workspace Partner, DTDC the Logistics Partner, Vikram Solar as the Energy Partner, and Essar participated as the Transformation Partner.
The summit’s Associate Partners included National Stock Exchange of India, M3M Foundation and Reliance Industries Limited, all of whom contributed significantly to making the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026 a landmark national platform.
The Rising Bharat Summit 2026 reinforced India’s image as a confident democracy and emerging global power. Through discussions spanning economic reform, AI and technology, defence modernisation, sustainability and culture, the summit reaffirmed that India’s development journey is ambitious, inclusive and firmly anchored in its civilisational strength.