How indigenous AI capabilities can strengthen India’s security and strategic autonomy

By Kaushal Bheda, Director of GovTech, Pelorus Technologies

On 12 June 2026, one of the world’s leading AI companies disabled access to its two most advanced models for every customer worldwide. The reason was a US government export control directive that cited national security and ordered that no foreign national be allowed to use them. The company could not separate foreign users from domestic ones quickly, so it switched the models off for everyone.

When a critical capability runs on foreign infrastructure and is governed by foreign law, it can be switched off overnight. India already manages this kind of risk in energy, where dependence on a single source is treated as a strategic weakness. AI now belongs in the same category, because the systems built on it will sit inside defence, governance and public services.

India should use this moment to pivot. The same AI coding tools that other...

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