NDTV World Summit 2026 Day 2 Live Updates: 'US Never Apologised', Iran Diplomat Says On Primary School Bombing

Nepal’s Gen Z uprising stemmed from young people’s frustration with political leaders focused on retaining power rather than creating jobs, Nepal Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle said at the NDTV World Summit 2026.

Discussing movements in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal that led to changes in government, Dr Wagle said “all country cases are distinct and different”.

“I think, as the Chinese used to say, you don't really export revolutions, right? I don't think these things can be transplanted and copied blindly. These are born out of the distinct circumstances of the country,” he said.

Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is in good health, said Ayatullah Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Elahi, Representative of the Supreme Leader of Iran and senior Iranian diplomat."

He is benefiting from very good health and he's working very nicely. Even our president mentioned that last week he had a seven-hour meeting with him," Elahi said at the NDTV World Summit 2026.

On his public appearances, Elahi added, "Even some nights he comes to the street. He participated in the demonstration of the people in Iran and he's doing very nicely."

Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative Ayatullah Abdul Majid Hakeem Elahi said the United States had yet to apologise for bombing a primary school in Minab nearly seven months earlier. 

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, he alleged that two strikes on February 28 killed 168 people, including children. He said some children’s bodies remained beneath the debris, leaving grieving parents without graves to visit. 

Elahi described families bringing books and notebooks as schools reopened in October, despite their children’s deaths. 

"Till now, some of the bodies of these children couldn't be found. Their mothers and fathers are still crying because they don't have any grave to go to and cry for their children. On the 1st of this month, October, the 1st academic year of Iranian schools began, and they gathered. They brought a lot of notebooks and books for the children, but there is no one. Now they are suffering."

He criticised Washington for failing to apologise and said the United Nations had sent a committee to investigate the school attack.

Former CIA chief David Petraeus said, "Actually [that was] a human judgement. That was not the machine making the decision, I believe. It was a human that decided, and it was helped by AI with targeting. AI is used extensively," he said.

"There have been mistakes, and you've seen these in various settings in the Middle East as well as, I'm sure, in Ukraine as well. These still are humans making the final decision, in a sense, to pull the trigger or press the button," he added.
 

Former CIA chief David Petraeus said a human made the final decision in the strike on a school compound in Iran’s Minab that killed at least 156 people. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, he said AI helped with targeting.

The statement tells a different story than an earlier report that said an AI 'kill chain' was behind US strikes in which at least 123 children were killed. 'Humans pulled the trigger, machine helped', the former CIA chief said while speaking at the NDTV World Summit.

#NDTVWorldSummit2026 | "Human pulled the trigger, machine helped": Gen. David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), Former Director of the CIA, on Iran school bombing @rahulkanwal | @ShivAroor | @VishnuNDTV | #NDTVWorldSummit https://t.co/7YD5nZMNc7

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 23, 2026

Autonomous drones and agentic AI could reshape warfare, former CIA director David Petraeus said at the NDTV World Summit. He described a future in which humans move from being “in the loop” to “on the loop”, overseeing systems that can operate autonomously.

#NDTVWorldSummit2026 | "They are Nobel laureates in terms of brainpower": Gen. David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), Former Director of the CIA, to @ShivAroor on role of AI in warfare @rahulkanwal | @VishnuNDTV | #NDTVWorldSummit https://t.co/Tq2yRr75VP

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 23, 2026

Former CIA director David Petraeus says AI agents could eventually act as military staff officers who never sleep or take breaks, with brainpower comparable to a Nobel laureate. Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, he said AI could combine data from radars and other sensors to build a detailed air defence picture.

BAPS monk Brahmavihari Swami has said the controversy over women employees allegedly being sidelined during the Hindu organisation's visit to the Eiffel Tower in Paris on September 5 was the result of a "miscommunication".

Speaking at the NDTV World Summit, Swami said he did not blame the monument's management for the incident, adding that an internal review found that no explicit request had been made by the BAPS delegation to exclude women employees from the entire proceedings.

"AI can replace intellect, not emotions", says Brahmavihari Swamiji at NDTV World Summit 2026.

#NDTVWorldSummit2026 | "AI can replace intellect, not emotions": Brahmavihari Swamiji, International Spokesperson of BAPS and Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, to @AdityaRajKaul https://t.co/CM3xvsnjm8

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 23, 2026

"AI is not just another invention, but a reinvention of life", says Brahmavihari Swamiji, International Spokesperson of BAPS and Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi.

Brahmavihari Swamiji, International Spokesperson of BAPS and Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi spoke on Beyond Intelligence: AI, Faith and the Meaning of Being Human.

Brahmavihari Swamiji said, "My fear isn't that one day machines will start thinking like humans, but the real fear is one day humans will start thinking like machines."

#NDTVWorldSummit2026 | "My fear isn't that one day machines will start thinking like humans, but the real fear is one day humans will start thinking like machines": Brahmavihari Swamiji, International Spokesperson of BAPS and Head of BAPS Hindu Mandir in Abu Dhabi, to @AdityaRajKaul

— NDTV (@ndtv) October 23, 2026

Welcome to NDTV World Sumnmit 2026. From geopolitics and security to AI, innovation, and leadership, Day 2 promises another day of powerful ideas and inspiring discussions.