Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday shared an article highlighting India’s willingness to share its robust digital public infrastructure with countries across the Commonwealth, underscoring New Delhi’s vision of technology as a global public good that strengthens democratic institutions.
The Prime Minister’s remarks came as India hosts the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) for the fourth time, at Samvidhan Sadan in New Delhi. The conference is being chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Responding to a post by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on X, PM Modi said, “As India hosts the 28th CSPOC, Honourable Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Om Birla underscores that, in the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the country stands ready to share its digital public infrastructure with the Commonwealth He writes that India does not see technology as a proprietary asset, but as a public good that strengthens democratic resilience across the globe.”
In his article “Harnessing technology to strengthen democracy”, Birla emphasised that the world is witnessing a “digital turn in democracy,” and argued that New Delhi should serve as a platform for Commonwealth nations to forge a collective approach to navigating this transformation.
Recalling the origins of CSPOC in 1969 and its role in safeguarding parliamentary independence and democratic values, Birla noted that India has long been a pillar of the Commonwealth’s parliamentary tradition. He highlighted India’s Digital Sansad initiative, which goes beyond digitisation towards digital empowerment, including the use of artificial intelligence to make parliamentary processes more inclusive and accessible.
Among key initiatives, Birla pointed to the Sansad Bhashini project, which uses AI-enabled real-time interpretation and transcription to allow Members of Parliament to speak in their mother tongues while being understood instantly. He said such technologies could be particularly valuable for the linguistically diverse Commonwealth, which represents nearly 2.7 billion people.
Acknowledging capacity constraints faced by many countries, especially in the Global South, Birla said India is prepared to share its digital public infrastructure to help strengthen legislative research, drafting and budget analysis. He stressed that technology, when treated as a public good, can act as a force multiplier for democratic governance.
At the same time, Birla cautioned that the digital age also brings new challenges, including online harassment, misinformation and deepfakes, calling for collective vigilance to protect the dignity and security of parliamentary institutions.
The CSPOC brings together Speakers and Presiding Officers from across the Commonwealth to deliberate on the intersection of democracy, technology and governance, reaffirming India’s role as both the “Mother of Democracy” and an emerging global technology leader.
