By Adv (Dr.) Prashant Mali, Technology Lawyer

India AI Summit - Oh, bravo, China! You've done it again slithered into India's spotlight like a digital dragon, only to breathe fire on our ambitions through your oh-so-clever trickery and propaganda blitz. Here we were, hosting the grand India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi, a sovereign showcase meant to flaunt our tech prowess to the world, and what happens? A couple of our own entities, Galgotias University and Wipro waltz in with rebranded Chinese robots, claiming them as homegrown marvels. And now, Beijing's paid influencers and state-backed channels are having a field day, mocking us as if we're some backwater bazaar peddling knockoffs. It's not just embarrassing; it's a geopolitical gut punch that dents India's international image, all because we let our guard down. As a proud Indian nationalist who puts Bharat first, I say enough with this nonsense, it's time we stop falling for these traps and start building real fortifications for our innovation dreams.

Let's dissect this farce, shall we? Picture this: At the summit, Galgotias University trots out a quadruped robot they've christened "Orion," strutting it around like it's the next big leap in Indian AI. Attendees ooh and aah, shaking hands with the robo-dog as if it's a desi engineering triumph. But hold on, social media sleuths quickly unmask it as the Unitree Go2, a bog-standard Chinese robotic pooch from Unitree Robotics, available online for a measly ₹2.5 lakh. That's right, folks: They slapped on a fancy name, maybe tweaked the software a bit for "stability and reliability" with their so-called Orion AI V2.0, and presented it as part of their ₹350 crore AI ecosystem. The university later backpedaled, claiming it was just for "academic exposure" and hands-on learning, not ownership. Sure, and I'm the next ISRO chief. This wasn't innovation; it was imitation wrapped in tricolor packaging.

Not to be outdone, Wipro joins the party with their own "Indian" dog robot demo. Over 40 countries are watching, and here's Wipro, renaming an imported Chinese bot and parading it as a made-in-India breakthrough. Peak shame, as one X user aptly put it. It's like they thought no one would notice the "Made in Shenzhen" sticker under the paint job. These aren't isolated gaffes; they're symptoms of a deeper malaise where Indian firms grab off-the-shelf Chinese tech, white-label it (with Beijing's implicit blessing, no doubt), and pitch it as original to score points at national events.

And here's where China's masterstroke kicks in. They sell these robots cheaply, Unitree's been flooding the market with their Go2 and humanoid models, even stealing the show at their 2026 Spring Festival Gala with kung-fu dancing bots that wowed 1.4 billion viewers. They probably chuckled while allowing white-labeling, knowing full well they'd turn around and unleash their propaganda machine to take potshots. Suddenly, Chinese state media and influencers are amplifying clips of their superior robotics, subtly (or not so subtly) contrasting them with India's "cosplay" summit. X posts erupt with laughs: "Made in China, assembled in Thailand, shown in India." Others crow about how a single Chinese humanoid clip "overshadowed the entire India AI summit," reminding everyone who's the real robotics boss. It's classic Beijing playbook—supply the bait, wait for the bite, then ridicule to undermine rivals. Why? Because it erodes India's credibility on the global stage, making us look like jugaad junkies instead of tech titans."

This isn't China's first rodeo with us. Remember the drone killers saga? When the Indian government ordered anti-drone systems to counter threats along our borders with Pakistan and China, some vendors pitched rebranded Chinese tech as their own innovations. Lo and behold, once exposed, Beijing's propaganda outlets pounced, portraying India as reliant on their scraps while they boasted about their own swarm drones and "no-contact warfare" capabilities. China's been copying designs like Boston Dynamics' dog robots for years, deploying them against our troops in high-altitude theaters where their PLA soldiers falter. And now, with us acquiring US MQ-9B hunter-killers to catch up, they're selling "killer robots" to the Middle East and hyping their AI-enabled swarms as unbeatable. It's the same cycle: Lure with cheap tech, expose the dependency, then mock to assert dominance. How many times do we let this happen before we wake up?

Why do our companies keep falling for these geopolitical baits? Simple: The infamous "jugaad" and "chalta hai" mindset. In our rush to shine, we cut corners, rebrand foreign goods, and hope no one calls our bluff. It's lazy, it's shortsighted, and it demeans India's grand dreams of atmanirbhar Bharat. We're a nation of brilliant minds, ISRO's moon landings, UPI is global envy, yet we sabotage ourselves by not verifying origins. This was a sovereign summit, not a flea market sales pitch! Organizers should have scanned exhibitors rigorously: Mandate proof of indigenous IP, audit demos for authenticity, and bar anything smelling of foreign white-labeling.

The solution? Strict certification labs, pronto. Establish national bodies to vet tech claims, with penalties for fakers, fines, bans from government contracts, public shaming. Tie it to Make in India incentives: Reward true innovation, not repackaged imports. And let's invest in our own AI and robotics ecosystem, fund startups, collaborate with DRDO, build from scratch. No more letting China play us like puppets. As an India-first patriot, I refuse to see our image tarnished internationally. We've got the talent, the will, the heritage of ingenuity. Time to roar back, not whimper under propaganda. Jai Hind!