New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with the Indian para-athlete contingent for Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games via video conferencing at 11 am today.
As per an official statement from Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, India's biggest-ever contingent consisting of 54 para-athletes from across nine sports disciplines will be heading to represent the country in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
During the virtual interaction, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur will also be present. Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games are scheduled to take place between August 24 and September 5. With women's and men's and archery events, India will start its campaign on August 27.
Meanwhile, at this year's Independence Day celebrations, the Indian Olympians were invited as guests. It was the first time in the history of India's Independence Day celebrations, that Olympic athletes were also invited as dignitaries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also had a special meeting with the Indian athletes, who made India proud in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. On this occasion, Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal in Olympics 2020, was served his favorite churma, while shuttler PV Sindhu was served an ice cream by the Prime Minister.
At the same time, the Indian men's hockey team, which won the bronze medal to put an end to a medal-drought of 41 years, gifted PM Modi an autographed hockey stick. This time the Olympics was a memorable for India as the country won a total of 7 medals for the first time in Games' history.