The India AI Impact Summit 2026, a glittering showcase of the nation’s technological ambitions, witnessed a stark collision of futures on Friday. Inside the sprawling halls of Bharat Mandapam, global tech CEOs painted a picture of a hyper-connected, AI-driven tomorrow. Just outside, the noise was not of servers humming, but of angry protesters—some of whom removed their shirts in a dramatic display—railing against a very immediate and political concern: the new India-US trade framework agreement. The BJP called it national shame
The summit, which has been described as the largest AI congregation in the country, played host to the who’s who of the technology world. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, the keynote speeches focused on the "revolutionary jump" in technology and India's central role in it .
Google CEO Sundar Pichai took the stage to reiterate the company’s massive commitment to India, detailing plans for a full-stack AI hub in Visakhapatnam as part of a $15 billion investment. He spoke of being on the "cusp of hyperprogress," where AI could improve billions of lives . "Back when I was a student, I often took the train through Visakhapatnam. I remember it being a quiet and modest coastal city," Pichai recounted. "Now in that same city, Google is establishing a full-stack AI hub. Sitting on that train, I never imagined Vizag becoming a global AI hub" .
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who announced the opening of a new office in Bengaluru, electrified the audience with his vision of the near future. He predicted the arrival of a "country of geniuses in a data centre—a set of AI agents that are more capable than most humans at most things" . While acknowledging the risks of misuse and economic displacement, Amodei insisted that India has an "absolutely central role" to play in navigating both the opportunities and the challenges of this new era . OpenAI’s Sam Altman echoed this sentiment, predicting that India could become "one of the biggest markets for AI in the world" .
However, the futuristic reverie inside the auditorium was punctured by the sounds of political unrest just outside its walls.
Attendees at one of the halls reported hearing a commotion and shouting. Upon stepping out, they were met by a group of men from the Indian Youth Congress, many of whom had taken their shirts off in protest. The protesters were demonstrating against the government’s recently finalized trade framework agreement with the United States .
The protest was a physical manifestation of the political storm that has been brewing since the agreement was announced earlier this month. The opposition Congress party has vociferously alleged that the deal is lopsided and fails to secure justifiable benefits for Indian industry and farmers .
The India-US trade framework, signed in early February, is a complex interim deal aimed at resetting bilateral trade ties. According to the joint statement, India agreed to eliminate or reduce tariffs on a host of U.S. industrial and agricultural goods, including things like red sorghum, tree nuts, and specific wines . In return, the U.S. agreed to slash reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent and remove them entirely on items like generic pharmaceuticals and gems .
While the government, led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, has hailed the pact as a "historic milestone" that will open the $30 trillion American market for Indian exporters, the opposition has seized on specific concessions . The protesters' chants echoed the allegations made by IYC National President Uday Bhanu Chib, who has accused the government of "compromising on national interest" and lacking transparency in the deal's negotiations .
The scene outside the AI summit was a powerful juxtaposition. On one side were globalists celebrating the removal of barriers to digital trade and the flow of high-tech goods like GPUs—a key component of the trade pact aimed at boosting India's data center capabilities . On the other side were protesters arguing that the agreement, particularly the lowering of tariffs on agricultural products, could hurt the very farmers and small-scale industries the government claims to protect. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to condemn the protest, calling it national shame.
As the three-day summit continues, the images of its success will likely be the handshakes and promises of a high-tech future. But for a brief moment on Thursday, the slogans of the shirtless protesters served as a visceral reminder that the path to a "Techade" is paved with political battles over the more traditional concerns of trade, tariffs, and national sovereignty.
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