Prime Minister Narendra Modi has belied speculation that he would take up India’s possible bid for the 2024 Olympics when Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, met him on Monday.
Instead, Modi spoke about the massive tragedy unfolding in Nepal following the earthquake and the war in Yemen, both of which saw his government mount one of the biggest rescue operations.
As for sports, Modi just sought the IOC President's support for making India a hub of sports infrastructure, sports technology, and sports equipment manufacturing. “The Prime Minister expressed his intention to promote India on the global sports map,” a PMO statement said.
The Prime Minister told him that India is the world's youngest country, and has the maximum potential for growth of sports, an official said.
If it were not the real challenge thrown up by the earthquake and the war, Modi may have been in an ambitious mood to think of India holding a spectacular sporting event. But, with the PM himself monitoring Operation Maitri, his mind was more pragmatic, official sources said.
Bach himself told reporters that Modi did not propose holding the Olympic Games in India in 2024, for which Boston, Hamburg and Rome are already declared as bidders.
He said he checked it with Modi, who said the country would rather host the Olympics “after full preparation and after having expertise”.
“We were aware of the speculation (about India’s possible bid for 2024 Games). We were a bit surprised about this speculation because we thought it may be too quick for India to host a successful Olympic Games. I am happy that India has come out of suspension last year but the IOA has to find its feet,” Bach was quoted by PTI as saying.
Bach had recently met French President Francois Hollande to discuss Paris' prospects for the 2024 Olympics. He also visited several countries recently and met the prime ministers of Hungary and Kosovo and the presidents of Serbia, Ukraine and Russia to discuss issues related with the Olympics Reform Agenda 2020. He will also visit Australia on Wednesday to discuss Brisbane's possible bid for the 2028 Olympics and meet Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The next Olympic Games are planned to be held from July 24 to August 9 in 2020 in Tokyo. The Japanese capital previously hosted the 1964 Summer Olympic Games, and in 2020 will become the fifth city (and the first Asian city) to host the Summer Olympic Games more than once.
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