On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference meeting with 40 prominent sportsmen of the country including Indian captain Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Mary Kom on the ongoing situation in the country as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is the first time the PM has interacted with sports personalities since the 21-day lockdown enforced on 24th March to curb the spread of the virus.
Other prominent sports personalities included PT Usha, Pullela Gopichand, Vishwanathan Anand, Hima Das, Bajrang Punia, PV Sindhu, Rohit Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Sharing the news of the interaction, PM Modi tweeted, “Interacted with sportspersons via video conferencing on the situation arising due to COVID-19. Sports require self-discipline, tenacity, teamwork, and a fighting spirit. These are also required to defeat Coronavirus.”
He further added to the tweet, “From sharing videos that reaffirm the importance of fitness, helping the poor and needy, emphasizing on social distancing as well as contributing to efforts such as PM-CARES, our sportspersons are doing excellent towards making India free from COVID-19.”
PM Modi praised the sportsmen for bringing glory to the nation through their “stellar performances on the field” and told them that they now have an important role to play in boosting the nation’s morale as well as spreading the message of social distancing and asking people to follow the advice provided during the lockdown.
The sportspersons praised PM Modi’s leadership in this challenging time, according to a Press Information Bureau release.
They also thanked him for making sure that the frontline healthcare workers and police officers involved in this war receive the recognition they really deserve for their selfless service.
They also discussed the importance of discipline, mental strength, a fitness routine and measures to strengthen immunity.