New York/Mumbai: The fifth edition of India Day @ UNGA in New York placed India’s development innovations, digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence at the centre of discussions on accelerating progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The event was held on September 24 during the 81st United Nations General Assembly week.
Organised by Reliance Foundation, the United Nations in India and the Observer Research Foundation, the event brought together government representatives, multilateral institutions, civil society and private-sector leaders to examine how development models emerging from India could be adapted and scaled across the Global South.
The programme featured discussions on AI, digital public infrastructure, women-led development, healthcare, climate action and inclusive growth. Four thematic sessions examined the future of development beyond 2030, health and opportunities for women, children and youth, AI deployment at population scale, and approaches to AI governance.
At the high-level session “Ruptures & Ramparts: Building Bridges for a Changing World,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar joined ministers from Jamaica, Suriname and Ghana, along with other international leaders, to discuss innovation, technology, climate action, finance and new forms of global partnership.
Jaishankar highlighted the role of international cooperation and said the issues being discussed within BRICS were also relevant to the United Nations system.
Other speakers emphasised the importance of using technology to expand access to public services. Rohit Kansal, Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Government of India, highlighted India’s population-scale approach to infrastructure and digital access, while Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, stressed the need to combine physical infrastructure with AI and digital technologies in healthcare.
Santosh Kumar Sarangi, Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, spoke about the potential role of AI in making energy infrastructure more resilient and improving efficiency in power distribution.
The event also featured the launch of “When Silicon Meets the Soil: India’s AI Revolution,” the fifth publication in the India Day @ UNGA series. The 18-chapter publication examines how AI is being applied across communities, livelihoods and public systems, with an emphasis on scale, inclusion and local relevance.
Stefan Priesner, United Nations Resident Coordinator in India, said the remaining years before 2030 provided an opportunity to take proven solutions from India to other parts of the world.
The organisers said India Day @ UNGA 2026 aimed to explore cooperation models that can translate locally developed solutions into population-scale approaches for sustainable and inclusive development across the Global South.
