New Delhi: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday met US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and discussed strengthening of strategic ties between the two nations, with a focus on semiconductors and electronics manufacturing.
In a post on X, Vaishnaw – Minister for Electronics and IT, Railways and Information and Broadcasting – said he looks forward to strong participation from the US in the AI Impact Summit 2026.
“Good meeting with Mr. Sergio Gor, US Ambassador to India. Discussed strengthening our strategic ties, with a focus on semiconductors, electronics manufacturing and supply chain resilience,” Vaishnaw said in the post as he shared photos from the meeting.
The development comes within days of India-US reaching an agreement on tariffs, and ahead of the crucial India AI Impact Summit that New Delhi is hosting during February 16-20, 2026.
India and the US on Saturday announced they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade.
According to a joint statement issued by both sides on February 7, 2026, on the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, India has expressed its intention to purchase $500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.
As the two nations made the big announcement, Vaishnaw said on Saturday that the Indian government is closely engaged with the US for electronics and IP-related matters.
India is also set to take centre stage in global AI conversations next week as it hosts AI Impact Summit 2026 – the largest of the four global AI summits hosted so far (AI Safety Summit hosted by the UK, the AI Seoul Summit, and the AI Action Summit hosted by France).
The much-awaited event – that has created quite a buzz – will reflect growing international focus on responsible, inclusive and impact-driven AI, as well as India’s expanding role in shaping the global AI narrative.
According to an official release earlier last week, the Summit has garnered strong interest from the global community, with over 35,000 registrations received ahead of the event, at the last count.
Governments, industry leaders, researchers, civil society organisations and international institutions are set to actively participate in shaping the Summit’s agenda. It is expected to see participation from over 100 countries, including 15 to 20 heads of government, 50-plus ministers from various countries, and 40-plus prominent global and Indian companies.
Around 500 leading names from the global AI ecosystem, including innovators, researchers and chief technology officers, are expected to attend the mega event, which will feature a showcase of over 500 AI startups and host around 500 sessions alongside the main programme.
The event will be closely followed globally, given that several influential figures shaping the global tech discourse are slated to participate in it.
That list includes Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO, NVIDIA; Dario Amodei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Anthropic; Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair, Microsoft; Demis Hassabis, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Google DeepMind; and Julie Sweet, Chair & CEO, Accenture, among others.
