Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday interacted with India’s Asian Para Games contingent at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here.

India won a total of 111 medals including 29 gold medals in the Asian Para Games 2022. The total medal tally at the Games witnessed a 54 per cent increase over the previous best performance (in 2018), and the number of gold medals won was almost twice as won in 2018.

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Athletes, their coaches, officials from the Paralympic Committee of India and the Indian Olympic Association, representatives from National Sports Federations, and officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports attended the programme.

Addressing the para-athletes, the Prime Minister said “Your performance can re-energise any person howsoever deep in the grip of despondency.”

Mr Modi highlighted the progress of India as a sporting society and its sporting culture. “We are trying to organize the 2030 Youth Olympics and the 2036 Olympics,” he said.

Mr Modi said he always looks forward to meeting the para-athletes and sharing their experiences. “You bring along new hopes and renewed enthusiasm whenever you come here,” the Prime Minister said.

He emphasized that he was meeting the athletes only for one thing and that is to congratulate them on their successes. He said that he was not only following the developments at the Para Asian Games very closely but also living through it.

He lauded their contributions and also congratulated their coaches and their families. Underlining the competitive nature of sports, the Prime Minister dwelt on the internal competition of the athletes within themselves as they compete with each other.

Mr Modi acknowledged the highest level of practice and dedication of the athletes. “All of you present here, some came back winners, some wiser but none came back defeated,” the Prime Minister said.

“There is no losing in sports, only winning or learning,” the Prime Minister underlined as he highlighted the learning process involved in sports. He also noted the selection from 140 crore citizens as a huge achievement for the para-athletes.

“Your success inspires the entire nation and also instills a feeling of pride among the citizens,” Mr Modi said, noting the record-breaking success in terms of the total medal count of 111.

The Prime Minister related with the athletes for their record-breaking performance and recalled the feeling when he was congratulated by late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for his record electoral performance in Lok Sabha from Gujarat.

“These 111 medals are not just numbers but 140 crore dreams,” he added. He informed that the number is three times the number of medals won in 2014 while the number of gold medals is ten times more and India moved from 15th place in medal tally to top five.

The Prime Minister highlighted India’s recent achievements in the field of sports during the past few months and said, “Your success at the Para Asian Games is the icing on the cake”.

He mentioned the Gold Medal at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest in August, the Badminton Men’s Team’s first gold medal at the Asian Games, first medal by Women’s Pair in Table Tennis, Thomas Cup victory by Men’s Badminton Team, record 107 medals including 28 gold medals at Asian Games, and the most successful medal tally at the Asian Para Games.

Recognizing the special nature of the Para Games, the Prime Minister said that a sports victory by a divyang is not a matter of inspiration in sports only but it is a matter of inspiration in life itself.

The Prime Minister said that there are no shortcuts in sports and said that players rely on their own capabilities but a little help has a multiplier effect.

He stressed the need for collective support of families, society, institutions and other supporting ecosystems. There was a need for a change in outlook towards sports in families, he said.