Union Minister of State Jitin Prasada led the Indian delegation at the G20 Innovation Ministers’ Meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, held from September 1 to 2. The meeting was hosted by the US Department of Commerce and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
G20 ministers reached consensus on the Innovation Ministerial Statement. The meeting also produced the AI Prosperity Objectives and AI Prosperity Compact, which aim to support technical workforce development across G20 countries and expand opportunities for private sector partnerships.
On the sidelines, Prasada held bilateral talks with the European Union, France, Germany and the African Union. Discussions with European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen focused on innovation and trusted digital ecosystems. France’s Anne Le Hénanff discussed cooperation in artificial intelligence and digital technologies with the Indian minister.
Talks with German Parliamentary State Secretaries Thomas Jarzombek and Silke Launert focused on technology, innovation and research. In his meeting with African Union Commissioner Gaspard Banyankimbona, Prasada discussed expanding cooperation with African countries through India Stack and other Digital Public Infrastructure solutions.
Prasada also met US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss cooperation in semiconductors, AI and data centres. He encouraged greater US investment in India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 and proposed stronger AI technology partnerships, including mechanisms for AI safeguards.
In a separate discussion with Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown, he discussed developments in AI and the possibility of working together on benchmarks suited to the Indian context.
After the ministerial, Prasada visited Duke University and its Robotics Laboratory. He met researchers working on robotics, biomedical simulation, AI-enabled sensing, biomedical data and machine learning. The visit gave the Indian delegation an opportunity to engage with ongoing research in areas that featured prominently during the G20 discussions.
