Harpal Singh Bedi
National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada),India on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South AsiaRegional Anti-Doping(S Organization (SARADO), comprising of Anti-Doping Organizations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal andSri Lanka to increase the Regional Cooperation in anti-doping in sport.
Speaking on the occasion Union Sports minister Anurag Singh Thakur highlighted India’s increasing participation and achievementsin the international sporting arena and its eagerness to shoulder responsibility in promoting clean sport efforts and contribute toglobal anti-doping movement.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned India to become a sporting powerhouse in the coming years. The Ministry of Youth Affairsand Sports is committed to transforming this dream into a reality and is working relentlessly to improve Indian athletes’ sportsperformance at the national and international level.” the minister said
“Our increasing focus on high quality training, accessible and improved sporting infrastructure, increasing opportunities for allsports through competitions and training camps and mainstreaming efforts to promote gender equality in sports clearly reflect India’sintent and ambition to contribute to sports development globally”. he added.
The minister pointed out that India is acting as a bridge to address the gap between the global north and global south and createopportunities for economic as well as social growth for our friends in the Asian region.
He further added that India’s increasing contributions to the World Anti-Doping Agency and UNESCO International Convention AgainstDoping in Sport reflects country’s willingness and strong intent to be involved in furthering the anti-doping movement globally andcontinuously commit to strengthening anti-doping initiatives.
Union Minister urged the member countries of SARADO to come together and work together to take up anti doping measures in the fieldof sport on a war footing.
Ms. Ritu Sain, Director General & CEO, NADA India and Mr. Mohamed Mahid Shareef, Director General, SARADO signed the MoU on behalf oftheir organizations. The MoU, through the project plan and areas of cooperation, aims to fulfill the following objectives over a periodof three years.