White Paper Released to Ensure a Safe and Trusted AI Ecosystem Through a Techno-Legal Framework
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the India-AI Impact Summit scheduled next month, the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the central government has released a white paper titled Strengthening AI Governance Through Techno-Legal Framework. This document outlines the country’s approach to building a trusted, accountable, and innovation-aligned AI ecosystem.
Key Focus Areas
Enabling “safe and trusted AI” across the full AI lifecycle is one of the core focuses of the paper. It emphasizes the contours of a “techno-legal” AI governance framework necessary to mitigate risks while preserving flexibility and innovation.
Pro-Innovation Approach
The 40-page paper highlights India’s pro-innovation approach to AI governance, which integrates baseline legal safeguards, sector-specific regulations, technical controls, and institutional mechanisms. According to PSA Ajay Kumar Sood, developing a robust and responsive governance framework is not just a regulatory necessity but a prerequisite for sustaining the momentum of technological progress.
“The techno-legal approach offers a viable pathway by embedding legal, technical, and institutional safeguards into AI systems by design,” he stated during the release of the white paper on January 23.
Transformative Potential and Risk Management
In his foreword to the paper, Sood noted that while AI has significant transformative potential, it is essential to ensure that the associated risks and harms do not undermine trust or become barriers to innovation and adoption. The framework explores laws, rules, and regulatory mechanisms, suggesting ways in which AI can be used securely without eroding public trust.
India’s Contribution to the Global AI Ecosystem
The paper signifies India’s contribution to creating a safe ecosystem, exemplified by its hosting of the AI Impact Summit 2026, the first-ever global AI summit to be held in the Global South. As the summit’s host, India aims to shape a future-oriented agenda for impactful AI cooperation, marking a strategic shift from “action” to “impact”.
The upcoming summit aims to ensure that AI serves as a catalyst for inclusive human development, environmental sustainability, and equitable progress worldwide, addressing the Global AI Divide through concrete multilateral action.
Further Insights and Publications
This publication is the second in the White Paper series on ‘Emerging Policy Priorities for India’s AI Ecosystem’, aimed at deepening understanding and fostering informed discussion on critical AI policy issues. The first white paper in the series, released in December 2025, focused on “democratizing access to AI infrastructure”, highlighting the need to treat AI infrastructure as a shared national resource and identifying key enablers such as access to high-quality datasets, affordable computing resources, and integration with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
