'Shirtless' protest at AI Summit | Parliamentary panel headed by BJP's Nishikant Dubey condemns Congress stir

New Delhi: A Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Tuesday passed a resolution condemning the 'unfortunate' protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Youth Congress activists at 'India AI Impact Summit', amid protests from I.N.D.I.A MPs.

At the meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information and Technology, BJP MP Amar Pal Maurya moved the resolution but Opposition sources said six of their MPs – from Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) – did not support the move. Sixteen of the 31 MPs in the panel attended the meeting.

Sources said the Opposition MPs told the meeting that if the Youth Congress protest is being mentioned, then the episode involving Galgotias University where it displayed a Chinese robodog as its own invention should also be flagged.

Opposition MPs said they wholeheartedly endorse the AI Summit but would oppose a resolution reducing it to the protest alone. A senior Opposition MP said they understand the importance of such summits but a Parliamentary panel is not a platform to air such disagreements or confrontation.

Dubey said the resolution, which also described the summit as a "grand success", was passed during the meeting.

The resolution came against the backdrop of around a dozen Youth Congress activists entering the venue on Friday to protest against Modi, accusing him of being "compromised" and entering into a trade deal with the US, by removing their shirts and displaying T-shirts with slogans. Eight persons, including Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib, were arrested.

The resolution said the AI summit delivered a diplomatic declaration that 91 countries and leading companies committed to inclusive AI development. The companies announced over USD 200 billion AI investment in India, it said, adding Google besides committing a big data centre in India pledged to lay direct sea cable link between India and the US.

"The committee would like to place on record its appreciation for successfully organising the India AI Impact Summit by the Ministry of Electronics and IT under the able leadership of Narendra Modi...The Committee also condemns the unfortunate incident that happened on February 20 at the venue of the India AI Summit," the resolution said.