The Iranian Minister of Information and Communications Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi has stressed the necessity of expansion of multilateral cooperation in the field of AI governance in his ongoing visit to New Delhi.
He made the statement on Thursday during his participation in
the plenary and panel sessions on the second day of India AI Impact Summit 2026
as well as at the bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event.
Hashemi termed the development of multilateral cooperation in
the fields of AI, knowledge exchange, and strengthening communication
infrastructure as priorities of Iran’s ICT Ministry.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the second day of
the summit in the presence of more than 20 heads of state and government and above
40 ministers.
The summit discussed AI governance, international regulation,
responsible technology development, and the role of developing countries in the
value chain of the strategic technology of AI.
Iran’s ICT minister attended the summit meeting of heads of state
and government hosted by the Indian premier and participated in the plenary
assembly of ministers.
In the ministerial meeting, he introduced Iran's capacities
in development of digital infrastructure, and emphasized the need for targeted
cooperation between countries in the region and the world in the field of
artificial intelligence.
Hashemi termed the joint exploitation of scientific
capacities, data exchange, and development of smart services as the basis for
balanced growth of the digital economy.
He also held bilateral consultations with his counterparts on
the sidelines of the meeting.
Following the ministerial meeting, he left for Hyderabad to pay
a visit to the Hyderabad Technology Center. The visit includes official programs,
attendance at high-tech complexes, discussions with innovation ecosystem stakeholers,
and meetings with state officials.
As one of the main hubs of India's information technology and
artificial intelligence, Hyderabad hosts hundreds of knowledge-based companies
and international research and development centers.
The Iranian delegation headed by ICT minister is scheduled to
explore areas of cooperation between the Indian companies during the visit.
On the first day of the event on Wednesday, ICT minister attended
the opening ceremony of the panels and gave a speech.
He visited the specialized exhibition on artificial
intelligence, which was held with the participation of more than 500 companies,
and met with the managers of technology companies.
Hashemi also held a bilateral meeting with India’s Union
Minister of State for Electronics & IT Jitin Prasada during which they
exchanged views on expansion of bilateral cooperation in the fields of
Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity and digital economy.
Attending an official banquet hosted by the prime minister of
India and its side consultations were additional programs of the first day of
Hashemi’s visit to New Delhi.
On the sidelines of the official banquet, the ICT minister
met with Aleksandar Vučić, President of the Republic of Serbia, Abdullah bin
Sharaf Al-Ghamedi, Head of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority
(SDAIA), and Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Artificial
Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
He discussed the development of bilateral cooperation in the
field of artificial intelligence, the exchange of policy and regulatory
experiences, joint investments in data infrastructure, and strengthening the
innovation ecosystem.
The negotiating parties stressed the need for cooperating in
regional data governance, facilitating the exchange of experts and experience
of knowledge-based companies, and designing joint projects in the field of
general applications of artificial intelligence, especially in the smart
government, digital health, and smart agriculture sectors.