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New Delhi: The 56th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF) is beginning in Davos, Switzerland today, January 19, 2026, and India is sending its largest-ever delegation ever to the event. Such large and significant participation from India is important as it comes ahead of the Global India AI Summit to be held in New Delhi. Recent US-India trade and tariff skirmishes are another thing that make India’s presence and action in Davos this year important.
This year’s theme for Davos is ‘A Spirit of Dialogue’ and according to the World Economic Forum, over 3,000 delegates from more than 130 countries are expected to attend the event. This would include 64 heads of state and government, particularly from emerging nations. “Dialogue is not a luxury, it is a necessity,” said WEF President and CEO Børge Brende, a former Norwegian minister, of the event and its importance.
Talking of global luminaries, US President Donald Trump’s presence in the event is a highlight, especially in light of his recent policies surrounding global economic functions, be it in relations to his tariff threats or foreign policy objectives.
Other major world leaders to look out for include Canada’s Mark Carney, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Chancellor, EU President Ursula von der Leyen, Argentina’s Javier Milei, Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, and EU President Ursula von der Leyen. Another major point of interest would be looking at the big names in AI and tech who would be joining which include luminaries such as Jensen Huang, Satya Nadella and Dario Amodei.
Complimenting such a strong global presence is India’s delegation, powerful in both numbers and clout. From India, a number of high-profile individuals will be attending the event. These include National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Minister of New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi and Minister of Civil Aviation K. Rammohan Naidu.
Another major segment of India’s delegation to Davos 2026 is made up of several Chief Ministers representing their states. When it comes to chief ministers, several Indian states are representing, these include Devendra Fadnavis from Maharashtra, N Chandrababu Naidu from Andhra Pradesh, Himanta Biswa Sarma from Assam, Mohan Yadav from Madhya Pradesh, A Revanth Reddy from Telangana and Hemant Soren from Jharkhand. The larger number of chief ministers attending in Davos is significant and will be keenly looked at.
Apart from chief of states, many other luminaries are also expected to attend the event, these include some of the top names of Indian business and industry worlds. Some top names include Reliance CEO Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, Bajaj Group Chairman Sanjiv Bajaj. Other major players include Jubilant Bhartia Group Chairman Hari S. Bhartia, TVS Motor CEO Sudarshan Venu, Mahindra Group CEO Anish Shah, Axis Bank’s Amitabh Chaudhry, Godrej Industries Group Chairman Nadir Godrej, JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, Infosys CEO Salil S Parekh, Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji, Essar CEO Prashant Ruia and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. This makes it a good mix of both large traditional business houses of India and new startup players.
