"India is setting big goals, preparing to host Olympics": PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Photo- ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 18 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India as a country is setting big goals today, such as aiming to host the Youth Olympics and Olympics in future.

Addressing party leaders and supporters on the closing day of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Convention at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi said, “India is setting big goals today… We are preparing for the Youth Olympics in 2029 (2030). We are working to host the Olympics in our country in 2036…”

The summer Youth Olympics will be held in Dakar, Senegal in 2026, while the winter Youth Olympics were held in Gangwon, South Korea this year from January 19 to February 1. This is the multi-sport event held for players aged 15 to 18 years of age by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Paris Summer Olympics will be held this year from July 26 to August 11 this year.

India held the IOC session in Mumbai last year. The 141st edition of the session was held from October 15 to 17.

Former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Dhruv Batra in February 2022 had hailed India’s right to host the 141st IOC session and remarked that it was a stepping stone towards big events coming in the country as India was going to make all efforts to host the 2030 Youth Olympics and 2036 Olympics.

“It means that it is a beginning or a stepping stone towards big events coming in India. We are going to make all our efforts to host the 2030 Youth Olympics and 2036 Olympics in India. So, this is a stepping stone or beginning in that these are the people who take decisions. India most probably is going to be the third-largest economy in the world in the next few years. So, these things do make a difference when they come and see the infrastructure. The growth and the 650 million youth of this country. It is going to make a big difference. I think India is going to become a sporting powerhouse in future and pretty soon.” said Narinder while speaking to ANI.

Earlier also PM Modi expressed that India will make efforts to host these big sporting events.

Speaking to the para-athletes contingent in Delhi following a successful Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, PM Modi said the approach of the government is “athlete-centric”. He said India is growing in terms of its sporting culture and also as a “sporting society”.

The Prime Minister said there is another reason that India has gained the self-confidence to move forward. “We are trying to host the 2030 Youth Olympics and 2036 Olympics.”

India is slowly taking giant steps in multi-sporting events over the years.

Last year in the Asian Games and Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, India crossed the 100-medal mark for the first time ever, ending with 107 and 111 medals respectively. India had also captured 61 medals in Commonwealth Games back in 2022 in Birmingham, though their best medal count was 101 at home in 2010.

In the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics events held in 2021, India registered their best-ever medal tallies with seven and 19 respectively. (ANI)

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