India does need an AI mission, but money, capital and compute alone will not make India an AI superpower. Scientific depth, industrial capability and institutions that reward innovation over rent-seeking will matter just as much India’s AI mission must possess an external orientation. Every technological revolution eventually exposes the strengths and weaknesses that societies have spent decades working on. Artificial intelligence is beginning to do precisely that. Beneath the excitement around sovereign compute, hyperscale data centers and billion-dollar valuations lie the uncomfortable question – Does India possess the societal, scientific, institutional and industrial foundations necessary to become an AI power?Calls for…