On 17 February 2026 in New Delhi, Prof. (Dr.) G.S. Bajpai, the Vice Chancellor of National Law University, Delhi delivered the Opening Welcome address at the Strategic Multistakeholder Dialogue on AI Governance, organised by the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi (CCG) and the Global Network Initiative (GNI). The address marked an important milestone for the Multistakeholder Approaches to Participation in AI Governance (MAP-AI) project and was accompanied by the launch of CCG’s report on ‘Operationalising AI Safety: A Lifecycle Approach,’ supported by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).
The event was hosted by Jhalak Kakkar, Executive Director at CCG, and Shashank Mohan, Associate Director at CCG, in partnership with Elonnai Hickok, Managing Director at GNI, and Jason Pielemeier, Executive Director at GNI.
Attendees included a distinguished group of stakeholders, including notable members such as John Palfrey, President of the MacArthur Foundation; Amit Shukla, Joint Secretary for India’s Cyber Diplomacy and E-Governance in the Ministry of External Affairs; Prof. Balaraman Ravi, Co-Chair of the AI Impact Summit Working Group on Safe and Trusted AI; His Excellency Hendrikus G.J. Verweij, Ambassador-at-Large to the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Priit Turk, Director General for Digital and Cyber Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia; Dr Preeti Banzal, Adviser/Scientist ‘G’, Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India; Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation; Prof. Kristina Sinemus, Hessian Minister for Digitalization and Innovation, Germany; and Clara Chappaz, France’s Digital Affairs and Artificial Intelligence Ambassador, among others. Their presence underscored the global and cross-sectoral character of the dialogue.
By centering Global South perspectives and embedding multistakeholder participation in governance design, the convening advanced a more equitable and representative model for global AI governance. Discussions reaffirmed that meaningful Global South participation and sustained multistakeholder engagement are foundational to building just, inclusive, and effective AI governance systems.
The convening focused on strengthening inclusive, participatory, and rights-respecting approaches to AI governance. Participants engaged in plenary discussions and multistakeholder workshops across three core themes: collective responsibility in global AI governance, safe and trusted AI systems, and building context-driven AI infrastructure, with a cross-cutting emphasis on Global South leadership in AI.
Key Themes and Focus Areas
Over the course of three panels and eight workshops, participants examined:
- Collective responsibility in global AI governance
- Safe and trusted AI systems
- Context-driven AI infrastructure
- Global South leadership in AI governance