Hockey India withdraws from 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games
Cites COVID concerns, discriminatory quarantine rules
New Delhi, Oct 5: India on Tuesday pulled out of next year's Birmingham Commonwealth Games' hockey competition, citing COVID-19 concerns and UK's discriminatory quarantine rules for travellers from the country, a day after England's withdrawal from the junior men's World Cup in Bhubaneswar over similar reasons.
Hockey India President Gyanandro Ningombam communicated the federation's decision to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra in a letter.
Hockey India reasoned that there is only a 32-day window available between the Birmingham Games (July 28-August 8) and the Hangzhou Asian Games (September 10-25).
HI said it can't risk sending its players to the UK, which has been one of the worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
"You will appreciate that the Asian games is the Continental qualification event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and keeping the priority of the Asian Games in mind, Hockey India can not risk any members of the Indian teams contracting COVID-19 during the Commonwealth Games," Ningombam wrote.
"Therefore, Hockey India will not be sending its men and women teams to Commonwealth Games 2022 and are informing you in advance to kindly notify the Organisers to identify reserve teams."
The UK recently refused to recognise India's COVID-19 vaccination certificates and imposed a 10-day hard quarantine on travellers from the country even if they were fully vaccinated.
The discrimination was prominently mentioned in Ningombam's letter to the IOA President, who has issued instructions for co-ordination with the sport's world governing body FIH for the details of the reserve teams. Batra heads the FIH as well.
"Such discriminatory restrictions were not imposed on Indian athletes and officials during the recent Tokyo Olympic Games and this 10-day quarantine requirement for vaccinated sports persons will affect their performance," Ningombam stated.
"We feel these restrictions are biased against India and term it as very unfortunate," he said.
HI's move comes a day after England pulled out of the junior World Cup to be held in Bhubaneswar next month, citing a number of COVID-related concerns and taking "note" of the Indian government's mandatory 10-day quarantine protocol for all UK nationals.
India imposed reciprocal curbs on all British nationals arriving in the country after UK's steadfast refusal to reconsider its restrictions.
Under India's new norms, all British nationals arriving here from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to produce the result of the RT-PCR test done within 72 hours before travel.
They will also have to undertake two more RT-PCR tests, one on their arrival at the airport in India and the second one on Day 8 after arrival.
Both the Indian men's and women's teams reached the medal rounds in the 2018 Gold Coast CWG but lost to England in the bronze play-offs. The men's team was beaten 1-2 while the women team lost 0-6 to England.
The Birmingham CWG would have been first big event for both the teams after their inspirational performances at the Tokyo Games, where the men's team won a bronze while the women finished a creditable fourth.
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
