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Parliament Panel Backs AI Summit, Condemns Shirtless Protest in 10–6 Vote

Opposition members registered formal dissent, accusing the chair of politicising the committee.

Overview

  • The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT passed a resolution 10–6 that lauded the India AI Impact Summit as a grand success and condemned an 'unfortunate incident' at the venue on February 20.
  • The text credited the summit’s organisation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and noted participation from 91 countries as well as a diplomatic declaration on inclusive AI development.
  • The resolution recorded reported private-sector announcements exceeding $200 billion for AI in India, including Google commitments for a major data centre in India and a direct subsea cable link to the United States.
  • Opposition MPs from Congress, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Samajwadi Party voted against the motion and filed dissent, arguing the panel was used for partisan messaging and that singling out the protest was unwarranted.
  • Sources said an initial vote was delayed when BJP members were short of numbers before the motion was taken up again and passed, and IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib was arrested in connection with the shirtless protest.