India, Feb. 20 -- India stands at an inflection point.

As AI Summits fill auditoria and optimism fills headlines, we must pause and ask harder questions. Not about model accuracy. Not about chatbot adoption. But about sovereignty, livelihoods and national resilience.

AI is not merely a technology upgrade. It is an infrastructure shift. And infrastructure determines power.

History offers uncomfortable lessons. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the UK used this in China with Cocaine dependency becoming a geopolitical instrument. Economic addiction translated into leverage. Leverage translated into control.

In a post-AI world, digital dependency could play a similar role if we are not vigilant.

If our enterprises, defence systems, financi...