New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday received Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, President of the Government of Spain, at Hyderabad House in the national capital, underscoring the growing momentum in India–Spain relations amid high-level engagements at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

The meeting followed President Sánchez’s arrival in New Delhi to participate in the summit. He was received at the airport by Jayant Singh, Minister of State for Skills Development and Entrepreneurship.

Highlighting the significance of the visit, Randhir Jaiswal, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in a post on X that President Sánchez’s visit would add further impetus to the ongoing celebrations of the India–Spain Dual Year of Culture, Tourism and AI.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, being held at Bharat Mandapam, began on February 16 and will continue until February 20. As the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, it has brought together policymakers, AI experts from industry, academia, technology innovators and civil society representatives from across the world.

The summit reflects on the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, aligned with India’s national vision of “Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya” (welfare for all, happiness for all) and the global principle of AI for Humanity. It features participation from more than 110 countries and 30 international organisations, including around 20 heads of state or government and about 45 ministers.

Guided by three core pillars—People, Planet and Progress—the summit seeks to promote human-centric AI that safeguards rights, ensures equitable benefits, advances environmentally sustainable AI development, and supports inclusive economic and technological growth.

President Sánchez’s visit and his meeting with Prime Minister Modi build on the long-standing cordial relations between India and Spain, which date back to the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1956. Prime Minister Modi paid an official bilateral visit to Spain on May 30–31, 2017, and the two leaders have since met on the sidelines of G20 Summits in 2018 and 2021. They also spoke by telephone on February 15, 2023, reaffirming confidence in the expanding bilateral partnership.

Further engagements have included meetings between India’s External Affairs Minister and Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2022 and September 2024, as well as Albares’s bilateral visit to India in June 2022 and participation in G20 events hosted by India in 2023.

More recently, Spain’s Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, visited India from February 7 to 9, 2024.

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President Sánchez’s participation in the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and his bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi are expected to further strengthen multifaceted India–Spain ties, particularly in the context of the ongoing India–Spain Dual Year of Culture, Tourism and AI.