World leaders, diplomats, business chiefs and technology pioneers gathered in New Delhi on 22 October 2026 for the third edition of the NDTV World Summit, a two-day forum examining how countries navigate a world in transition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the summit, which carries the theme A World Between Orders.
FAKTA
- The third NDTV World Summit takes place in New Delhi on 22–23 October 2026.
- Its theme is “A World Between Orders”, covering geopolitics, diplomacy, technology, business, science and culture.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to deliver the keynote address.
- International participants include ministers from the United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Sri Lanka, alongside ambassadors from Germany, the European Union and Australia.
- Discussions also feature India’s external affairs minister, the Reserve Bank of India governor and senior technology figures.
NDTV World Summit 2026: a world between orders
The summit’s central question is how governments, companies and societies respond when established power structures are challenged, technological change accelerates and countries reassess their economic and strategic priorities. Organisers describe the gathering as a forum where political leaders, diplomats, technology pioneers, business executives and cultural figures debate the forces reshaping the world.
The two-day programme spans international diplomacy, artificial intelligence, economic competitiveness, scientific research, business and culture. Proceedings were set to be broadcast live across the NDTV network, bringing the debates to audiences beyond the conference hall.
Who is taking part
Ministers and diplomats
The international line-up includes Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy and Tourism; Swarnim Waglé, Nepal’s Federal Minister of Finance; and Chaturanga Abeysinghe, Sri Lanka’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development. Their participation brings perspectives from countries whose economic and strategic relationships with India are becoming increasingly significant.
Ambassadors taking part include Jasper Wieck of Germany, Jean-Eric Paquet of the European Union, Philip Green of Australia, and Djalal Khimdjee of Africa50’s Principal Investment Fund.
India’s voice in the debate
India’s position in the changing global landscape was to be discussed by S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs; Sanjay Malhotra, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology.
Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, was scheduled to discuss the historical and political forces shaping the present, while former CIA director David Petraeus was to speak on conflict and technological change.
Technology and the future agenda
Artificial intelligence is another major focus of the summit. Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning.AI and co-founder of Coursera, was listed among the speakers, alongside futurist Mike Walsh, AI researcher Alex Turner and Nicholas Butts, Director of AI and Cybersecurity Policy at Microsoft.
The technology sessions reflect a wider summit theme: decisions taken in one area — from trade and security to artificial intelligence and science — increasingly influence outcomes in others, and leaders must plan across those boundaries rather than within them.
Conclusion
As the summit opened on 22 October, its message was one of transition rather than settled order. With ministers, central bankers, diplomats and technology leaders in the same room, the New Delhi gathering offered a snapshot of how the world’s major questions — diplomacy, economics and technology — are now debated together. Further details are available at Watan News.
