France first nation to pledge support to India's bid to host Olympics in 2036

New Delhi: France will help India bid for the right to host the Olympics and Paralympic Games in 2036, sharing its experience in hosting the world’s biggest sporting extravaganzas this year, President Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu.

He also promised to open up the doors of the training facilities in France for the sportspersons from India.

“We will be delighted to build stronger cooperation on sports…We will definitely support your intention to organise the Olympic Games in India in the future,” Macron said at the banquet hosted by Murmu in his honour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday. He was the first foreign leader to pledge support to India’s bid for the right to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2036.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on October 14 last year officially announced India’s intention to bid for the rights to host the Olympic Games in 2036. He had called it a dream of the 140 crore Indians. He had not specifically mentioned which city of the country would bid to host the Olympics. But the Centre and the State Government of Gujarat earmarked Rs 6000 crore and embarked on several projects to build sports infrastructure in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to prepare the twin cities for the bid to host the greatest sporting event in the world.

Even as his nation set to this year’s Olympics and Paralympics in Paris from July 26 to August 11 and from August 28 to September 8, Macron not only extended his support to India’s bid for hosting the Olympics and Paralympics in 2036 but also promised to share the experience of France.

Modi and Macron recognized the importance of strengthening sports cooperation and agreed to boost youth exchanges and links between economic actors of the sports industry. France agreed to host delegations of sportspersons, particularly athletes, from India in its training institutes, to help them prepare for major sporting events, according to the joint statement issued by New Delhi and Paris on Friday. Macron conveyed to Modi that France would share its experience of hosting the Paris Olympics and Paralympics 2024 to help India prepare to bid for the right to host the Olympics and Paralympics Games in 2036. The two nations, according to the joint statement, agreed to exchange expertise in organising major international sporting events.

Macron was on a tour to Jaipur and New Delhi on Thursday and Friday. He and Modi had a one-to-one meeting before leading the respective delegations at the formal dialogue in Jaipur on Thursday. He joined Modi and Murmu in watching the Republic Day parade on the Kartavya Path in New Delhi on Friday.