Arundhati Choudhary, the 2026 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, on Thursday, 27 August attended the Khelo India Dialogue in Patiala — a virtual address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi — and said the PM's consistent support for athletes, regardless of results, was the event's defining message for India's youth.

Choudhary's Reaction

Speaking after the virtual session, Choudhary said the event gave young people a direct window into the Prime Minister's approach to sport. 'Through this event, the youth would have got a glimpse that PM Modi always stands with the youth, whether they win or lose. Whenever we return from a competition, the PM interacts with us. He discusses our wins and losses. If we lose, he motivates us not to bog down and keep working hard,' she said.

Her remarks underscore a broader pattern: Modi has made post-competition interactions with athletes a regular feature, using them to signal government investment in sport as a national priority.

Students at Punjabi University Respond

The event was also attended by students of Punjabi University, who shared their own takeaways. B.Tech student Anshul Auluwalia said the dialogue helped him understand the evolving landscape of Indian sports policy. NSS volunteer Khushdeep Kaur called accounts of athletes' injuries and struggles 'highly motivating', adding that their determination served as an inspiration for young people. Another student, Gauri, said she had stepped away from sport but felt compelled to return after engaging with the Khelo India programme.

Modi's 2036 Olympics Vision

At the heart of the Prime Minister's address was a pointed challenge: India must compete in sports where it currently has little or no Olympic presence. Modi noted that in the 2012 Olympics, India participated in only 13 sports, leaving more than 20 disciplines entirely uncontested. 'The bitter truth is that India's teams don't participate in half of the sports that are a part of the Olympics,' he said.

Modi identified this participation gap as a structural drag on India's overall medal tally — an argument that carries particular weight as the country positions itself to host the 2036 Olympics. He called for a nationwide talent hunt targeting children aged 5 to 15 as the foundation for building depth across disciplines.

New Frontiers: Surfing and Sports Climbing

The Prime Minister specifically cited surfing and sports climbing as disciplines where India's diverse geography offers a natural advantage that has gone largely unexploited. 'There are so many sports whose names people in the country have probably heard of. Other countries win medals in those sports. And we do not participate in those sports. We have to acquire the skills in these sports to increase the medal tally,' he said.

This comes amid a broader government push under the Khelo India umbrella to professionalise grassroots sport infrastructure across states. Whether the talent identification framework translates into competitive athletes by 2036 will depend on implementation timelines that are yet to be announced.