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Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he wants to be well-prepared and have expertise before bidding for the Olympics
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach laid to rest speculation about India's possible bid for the 2024 Olympics, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not even propose it during their meeting in New Delhi on Monday.
Bach also said the IOC thought it would be too soon for the country to host a successful Games, as the national Olympic body has come out of suspension only last year.
Visiting India for the first time after being elected IOC chief in 2013, Bach met Prime Minister Modi at his official residence on Monday evening during his day’s stay in the country.
He also had separate meetings with top officials of the Indian Olympic Association and Sports Ministry earlier in the day, besides attending a lunch hosted by Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at a city hotel.
Bach, himself an Olympian fencer who hails from Germany and, said at a press conference that he was surprised by the speculation in the media that India may bid for 2024 Olympic Games.
He clarified that he checked with the prime minister, 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 said.
"So we checked with the Prime Minister (regarding the possible bid) and he said he wants to be well-prepared and have expertise before doing that. He (the PM) also considered that launching a successful bid for 2024 (before deadline of September 15) may be difficult," Bach said, elaborating about his meeting with the prime minister, which he described as "excellent".
Bach, who will fly to Australia from Delhi on Monday night, informed that a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed among the Government of India, the IOA and IOC under which the world sports governing body will give assistance with respect to "coaching, sports technology, training of sports administrators and coaches" and establish bilateral cooperation in sports.
He also said that Modi extended an invitation to hold one of the meetings of the IOC in India in future and have "bilateral contact with him to further the development of sports in India".
"We will consider all these and we hope my visit will give a boost to sports in India and to the athletes. We hope that India will field a strong team in 2016 Rio Olympic Games," said the IOC chief.