Oman-India sports meet to boost ties
Times News Service
MUSCAT: Nearly 15,000 athletes from India and Oman will be taking part in a six-month-long sports festival being organised to strengthen bilateral ties.
The 2018 Oman-India Sports Meet, which begins on May 4, will see teams from both nations compete in six sports: football, volleyball, cricket, hockey, badminton and athletics.
The meet is being organised by the Indian Embassy, in collaboration with the Indian Social Club’s (ISC) Malayalam Wing and the Sultanate’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, to commemorate 70 years of Indian independence, and foster better relations with Oman, a nation with which India has strong ties that go back centuries.
Hisham Al Sinani, Assistant Director of Sports Development and Welfare at the Ministry of Sports, was pleased to offer the Sultanate’s expertise in setting up the event.
“These kinds of sports exchange programmes are sure to strengthen relations between our countries, and make them as strong as they are in other areas, such as the commercial sector,” he said.
“The Ministry will support this event by providing all the logistics and facilities needed to make it a success.”
Indra Mani Pandey, India’s ambassador, said the event was one of the biggest so far that the embassy had undertaken in Oman. “Last year, on August 15, we decided to take steps towards solidifying our ambition to build a new India,” he said. “As a result of that, we have been holding many cultural, technological, educational and financial programmes to spread awareness about these plans, and this is the latest event we are planning.”
“We are sure that such sports exchange programmes between the youth will make our friendship stronger, as many of the other events have,” added Pandey. “This is an event where the Embassy is playing a very active role, and is one that is for all Indians in Oman.”
Dr Sathish Nambiar, Chairman of the ISC, was very keen to see the cultural benefits of such a largescale event, which will see sports teams from India play both alongside and against similar outfits from Oman.