Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday poked fun at the traffic snarls in Delhi as he addressed a gathering at the India AI Impact Summit, 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Blaming traffic congestion and taking responsibility for the delay, he made a quirky remark that Artificial intelligence (AI) can’t yet fix Delhi’s traffic.
“Sorry we’re a few minutes late and it’s entirely my fault. AI can do many things as we found out this week, but it can’t yet fix Delhi’s traffic,” ANI quoted the British politician as saying at the beginning of the session.
While addressing the AI Impact Summit as a keynote speaker earlier, Sunak appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership for providing a platform to discuss this game changing innovation.
Highlighting the importance of this event, he said, “We do need a regular forum, where we can all meet and discuss this technology, and that is what this Summit provides under Prime Modi’s leadership. This summit will deliver impact; it will show us how we can make AI work, not just for the developed world but for the developing world too.”
According to Rishi Sunak, this summit would show how AI can improve health and education “in every corner of the globe.” During the interaction, the former British PM said, “There is no better place to discuss this AI transformation than India.”
‘India moved into one of the medal positions as an AI superpower,’ says Rishi Sunak
He advocated for ongoing discussions about AI’s benefits. Stressing the need for continued dialogue to harness its benefits globally, he added, “What this week has been just a showcase of the extraordinary, not just the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, but the energy that all of you have here to develop this technology and use it, is unlike anywhere else in the world. It’s a very special ingredient. It’s the reason that India, now, according to Stanford, who do the world rankings, moved into one of the medal positions as an AI superpower in the world, which is something that many of you here should be proud of.”
Highlighting that England still leads in ICC test rankings, he continued his light-hearted banter, “Although a little bit disappointing, because they leapfrogged the UK to get to that position. Although I did just point out to Prime Minister Modi just now, if you look at the ICC test rankings, England is still ahead, which is arguably more important.”
UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy joined the lighthearted conversation by introducing Sunak as “a great son of the United Kingdom and also a great son of India.” Correcting David Lammy, Sunak interjected, “Son-in-law.”
David Lammy also underlined his deep connection with India and said, “I just want to establish my heritage too, because my great-grandmother on my mother’s side was from Calcutta.”
