India to host South Asian Games (SAG) in Guwahati and Shillong

NEW DELHI: With an eye on giving impetus to neighbourhood first policy amid thaw in ties with Pakistan, India will host South Asian Games (SAG) in Guwahati and Shillong from Feb 6-16 2016. Delhi hopes that the Games will enhance people-to-people and youth links among eight South Asian countries in the spirit of Modi government’s importance to neighbouring states.
This is the 12th edition of SAG and India will be hosting it for the third time. People familiar with the developments told ET that the Games, held after a gap of six years, will also involve cultural and youth-related events to push India’s soft power. Sports besides connectivity and trade are among key objectives of the eight-member SAARC nations, a senior source.

To be held at the state-of-the-art venues and stadiums, the SAG will be first of its kind in this region. Athletes from eight-member countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will participate in 23 different sporting events. The Games would see participation of around 2,500 athletes. The last edition of the SAG was held in Dhaka in 2010.

The Games will also help to give Guwahati and Shillong limelight and expose otherwise landlocked Northeast region to a wider audience. “The aim of these Games, which are also popular as the Olympic Games of South Asia, is not just to merely conduct a sporting event of an international class, but also to involve the youths of the region and acquaint them with different sporting activities,” a source noted.

The first South Asian Games was hosted by Kathmandu, Nepal in 1984 and have since been held every alternate year except for some occasions. In 2004, it was decided in the 32nd meeting of South Asia Olympic Council to rename the Games from South Asian Federation Games to South Asian Games since the officials believed the word Federation was diminishing the emphasis of the event and acting as a barrier in attracting crowd. India had last hosted SAG in 1995 and for the first time in 1987.