Sri Lanka Ready for Collective AI Journey – President in New Delhi

22-Feb-2026

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President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stated that Sri Lanka is ready to embark on an ethical and inclusive collective journey in artificial intelligence.

He made the remarks at the World Leaders’ Session of the AI-2026 Conference held in New Delhi on 19 February.

The President noted that while AI is a transformative force in global economic and social systems, the widening gap between technologically advanced countries and those lacking such infrastructure poses significant risks to digital economies in developing nations.

He acknowledged that Sri Lanka, like many developing economies, has yet to fully establish the infrastructure required to maximize AI’s potential. 

However, he pointed to the country’s technologically skilled youth, evolving legal frameworks for data protection and cybersecurity, and investments in digital public infrastructure.

Highlighting cultural relevance as an overlooked dimension of AI development, he warned that if AI technologies are confined to a few dominant languages and ideologies, global cultural diversity could be undermined.

Sri Lanka has proposed regional cooperation based on four pillars: affordable centralized language datasets, common evaluation methods, shared safety tools, and joint capacity building. 

The President said Sri Lanka is prepared to work closely with India and other countries to establish secure and sustainable regional AI data capabilities.