Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

PM's speech at the closing ceremony of ISSF World Cup-2003

~I am happy to be with all of you at these prestigious twin sporting events. India had the distinction of hosting the 3rd ISSF World Cup, which concluded yesterday. It is appropriate that it was held at the historic ranges, named after Dr. Karni Singh, India’s legendary international shooter.

I felicitate all the shooters who participated in this competition. I am told that the tournament evoked a lot of interest because of the participation of many top-ranking marksmen from the world over. I heartily congratulate all the medal winners. I am glad to know that among the winners are two Indian shooters – Major R.V.S. Rathore and Shri Manavjit Singh. Well done, and best wishes to both of you.

Friends, I must confess my unfamilarity with your sport. When one hears ~Shooting~, one usually associates it with either entertainment – such as in shooting a film – or with violence. Shooting a film is fine. Shooting as a sport is also fine. But let there be no more shooting of missiles and gunshots on this beautiful planet of ours.

In the last Commonwealth Games, India occupied the top spot in the medals tally in Shooting. To all those shooters who brought this honour to our country, I say, ~Keep it up!~

Indian women have done exceedingly well in recent international sporting events. One of them who deserves our special congratulations today is Air Rifle Shooter, Ms Anjali Vedpathak. She has the singular distinction of qualifying for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

I am happy to see that Indian shooters have, steadily, become a force to reckon with in the international arena. Shri Jaspal Rana became the Junior World Champion in Standard Pistol, equaling the world record, in 1994. Shri Abhinav Bindra is the present world record holder in Air Rifle event for juniors. It is indeed a measure of the recognition of our shooters that, by now, about two dozen of them have been conferred the coveted Arjuna Awards.

I am also glad to know that for the first time, India is going to host the Asian Clay Shooting Championship from today. My best wishes to all the participants, including 20 Indian shooters, who would be competing for supremacy at the Asian level.

I would like the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and the Sports Authority of India to host more and more international sporting events in our country. These help Indian sports in several ways. When I went to Hyderabad a few months ago to attend the closing ceremony of the National Games, I was truly happy to see that the occasion was used to construct a beautiful stadium and other facilities with the most modern equipment in the world. Similarly, holding international tournaments of this kind would help in improving sports infrastructure in our country.

Secondly, such events enthuse our sportspersons to compete against the best talent in the world on our own soil. Our benchmarks of success go up steadily.

It is especially necessary that we pay extra attention to those relatively less popular sports, which account for many medals in international tournaments. A sustained and focused effort in these sports would help India to improve our overall medals tally. And, as all of us know, a gold medal is a gold medal – whether it is won in hockey or in shooting.

I therefore, hope that these two tournaments would provide a good opportunity to our shooters to find a berth in the Athens Olympics.

Friends, since this is a sporting event, it is perhaps not out of place for me to mention that all our hearts and minds are today riveted on tomorrow’s World Cup Cricket Final in Johannesburg. Our Boys in Blue have done India proud in this tournament. They overcame initial setbacks and, since then, have never looked back. To Saurav and his team, I say, ~Emulate the great shooter Arjuna. Aim at the Cup and bring it again to India.~

I take this opportunity to compliment Shri Digvijay Singh, Shri K.P. Singh Deo, and all their colleagues for the successful conduct of this prestigious tournament.

With these words, I declare the ISSF World Cup 2003 closed. I also declare the Asian Clay Shooting Championship open~