Rijiju shares PM Modi's tribute to Para Asian Games athletes
Synopsis
Minister Kiren Rijiju shared PM Narendra Modi's tribute to India's Asian Para Games 2026 contingent, quoting Modi's praise of their medals and their role in India's rise as a global sports power.
Key Takeaways
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju shared PM Narendra Modi 's address to Asian Para Games 2026 athletes on November 5, 2026 .
PM Modi told para-athletes they had won 'not just medals but the hearts of crores of countrymen.' Modi noted he had met the Asian Games contingent weeks earlier, holding both groups as part of the same national sporting story.
India recorded its best-ever tally at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou , underlining rising continental sporting ambitions.
Official messaging frames athletic success as evidence of India emerging as 'a major power in the world of sports.' The meetings signal a deliberate government effort to mainstream para-sport alongside able-bodied competition in India's sporting narrative.
India's para-athletes didn't just bring home medals — they won the hearts of a billion people. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday, November 5, 2026, shared Prime Minister Narendra Modi's powerful message honouring Indian para-athletes who competed at the Asian Para Games 2026, calling the nation's sporting rise unmistakable.
Sharing PM Modi's words in Hindi, Rijiju quoted the Prime Minister's address to the para-athletes: 'आपका शानदार प्रदर्शन ये बताता है कि आज भारत स्पोर्ट्स की दुनिया में तेजी से एक बड़ी पावर के रूप में उभर रहा है' — 'Your outstanding performance shows that India is rapidly emerging as a major power in the world of sports.' Modi also told the athletes that on such a large platform, 'you have not only won medals, you have won the hearts of crores of fellow countrymen.'
Modi noted he had met the Asian Games contingent just weeks earlier, and expressed equal eagerness to now honour the para-athlete group — framing both gatherings as part of the same national story of sporting excellence.
India's para-sport momentum on the continental stage
The sentiment fits a pattern that has been building steadily. India's performance at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou marked the country's best-ever medal tally at a single edition of that competition. The para-sport ecosystem has grown alongside it, backed by successive rounds of government funding and infrastructure investment that have deepened the pipeline of competitive athletes across disability categories. Official messaging from New Delhi has increasingly linked athletic achievement to a broader soft-power and national-prestige agenda — a framing PM Modi leaned into directly by meeting both the Asian Games and Asian Para Games squads in close succession.Para-athletes at the centre of the sporting narrative
What stands out in Modi's remarks, as shared by Rijiju, is the deliberate elevation of para-athletes to the same platform as their able-bodied counterparts. The Prime Minister's use of the phrase 'ऊर्जावान साथी' — 'energetic companions' — signals an intent to mainstream para-sport in the national consciousness rather than treat it as a separate, lesser category. For Indian para-athletes, that recognition at the highest political level adds weight to what they already accomplished on the field of play. The medals are recorded; the moment, it seems, is being carefully documented too. The next test will be whether the government's warm words at this reception translate into sustained structural support — funding, training infrastructure, and international exposure — that keeps India's para-sport curve pointing upward.Point of View
But its inclusion in the same high-visibility political moment as able-bodied sport marks a meaningful shift in official framing. The 'India as sports power' narrative is becoming a consistent plank in the government's soft-power communication, with multi-sport events serving as periodic proof-of-concept moments. Whether the institutional follow-through matches the rhetorical warmth will define how durable that narrative actually is.
NationPress
6 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did PM Modi say to India's Asian Para Games 2026 athletes?
PM Modi told the athletes that their outstanding performance shows India is rapidly emerging as a major power in the world of sports, and that they have won not just medals but the hearts of crores of fellow countrymen.
Why did Kiren Rijiju post about the Asian Para Games?
Rijiju shared PM Modi's remarks made during a meeting with the Indian Asian Para Games 2026 contingent, amplifying the Prime Minister's tribute to the para-athletes on social media.
Has India been improving at the Asian Para Games?
India has been building its para-sport infrastructure steadily, backed by increased government funding, though specific results of the 2026 edition are still emerging.
What was India's performance at the 2023 Asian Games?
India recorded its best-ever medal tally at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou , a milestone that set the tone for the country's current sporting ambitions.
What is the Asian Para Games?
The Asian Para Games is the para-athlete counterpart to the Asian Games, a continental multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities held under the auspices of the Asian Paralympic Committee.
