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India Charts AI Path for Development Amid US-China Tech Rivalry

While the US and China compete for AI dominance, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam are focusing on the technology to achieve developmental goals and maintain digital sovereignty. Their synchronized national milestones anchor a shared interest in using AI for structural transformation and poverty reduction. India's strategy involves multi-alignment, exporting its Digital Public Infrastructure, and building domestic capacity through the IndiaAI Mission. Similarly, Indonesia and Vietnam pursue their own doctrines of digital non-alignment and supply-chain resilience to secure autonomy.

Key Points: India's AI Strategy Focuses on Development, Not Rivalry

  • AI as a tool for development
  • Focus on digital strategic autonomy
  • Exporting Digital Public Infrastructure
  • Avoiding bloc politics for multi-alignment
3 min read

India focusing on AI for good amid US-China rivalry

India, with Indonesia and Vietnam, is using AI for digital autonomy and poverty reduction, avoiding the US-China power struggle, according to a new analysis.

"For India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, AI is less a prestige contest than a vehicle for structural transformation. - Modern Diplomacy article"

New Delhi, March 4

While the US and China are locked in an intense rivalry in the AI race to gain a dominant position in the world, countries such as India, Indonesia, and Vietnam are eyeing the frontier technology with the more modest objective of meeting their developmental goals and maintaining digital autonomy, according to an article.

The United States leads frontier innovation, from large language models to artificial general intelligence (AGI), while China excels in embodied AI, industrial robotics, and hardware integration. Beneath it lies a struggle over chokepoints: advanced semiconductors versus critical minerals and energy infrastructure, states the article authored by Tuhu Nugraha and published in the Modern Diplomacy news portal.

For much of the Global South, the stakes are political and developmental. Concentration of AI value risks structural dependency, where data and profits flow outward while policy space narrows. Without strategic autonomy, developing economies risk absorption into rival digital blocs, it observed.

Indonesia and Vietnam aim to reach developed-country status by 2045, while India has set 2047, its centenary of independence, as its own milestone. These synchronised horizons anchor deeper technological coordination among three middle powers converging around digital strategic autonomy, the article pointed out.

This coordination reflects shared national interests. For India, Indonesia, and Vietnam, AI is less a prestige contest than a vehicle for structural transformation, echoing earlier waves of East Asian industrialisation. The ambition is to reduce poverty and secure dignity through technological upgrading. The challenge lies in translating aspiration into institutional strategy.

The article highlights that India practices issue-based multi-alignment rather than bloc politics. In the digital domain, this translates into exporting Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): modular identity systems, payment rails, and governance frameworks that can be adapted across developing economies.

Through the IndiaAI Mission and projects like BharatGen, India invests heavily in domestic AI capacity while emphasising "safe and trusted AI". Governance is embedded into architecture. India's objective is not alignment but institutionalised autonomy through interoperable public systems, the article said.

Indonesia's long-standing foreign policy doctrine of bebas dan aktif, literally "free and active", meaning non-aligned yet proactively engaged, now extends into digital policy. Initiatives such as Sahabat-AI, developed with India's Tech Mahindra, show how private innovation can align with public strategy.

Vietnam contributes supply-chain resilience through what is often described as Bamboo Diplomacy, a posture that bends without breaking. Hanoi absorbs Western investment while maintaining proximity to China, managing tension through calibrated balance rather than overt alignment. This is not ambiguity for its own sake but a survival strategy shaped by history and geography, the article added.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Finally, a sensible strategy! "AI for good" and focusing on DPI exports is how India can become a true leader for the Global South. We have the talent and the need. Let's build solutions for our unique challenges instead of copying Silicon Valley.
A
Arjun K
The 2047 target is ambitious but necessary. The key is execution. We need to ensure these AI projects actually reach villages and small towns, not just stay in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Digital autonomy is meaningless if it doesn't empower every citizen.
S
Sarah B
Interesting perspective from an international relations angle. The comparison with Indonesia's "bebas dan aktif" and Vietnam's "Bamboo Diplomacy" is apt. India's multi-alignment seems pragmatic in this fractured world. Hope the focus on "safe and trusted AI" remains strong.
K
Karthik V
While the intent is good, I'm cautiously optimistic. We've seen big government missions before that get bogged down in bureaucracy. The article talks about translating aspiration into institutional strategy – that's the real challenge. Need more transparency on BharatGen's goals.
M
Meera T
This is about our digital swaraj. We cannot let our data and our future be controlled by foreign corporations or governments. Building our own AI stack, like we did with UPI, is crucial for a truly Atmanirbhar Bharat. Jai Hind! 🙏

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