Kathmandu/ First of all, I would like to express my best wishes for the complete success of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which is being organized by China. Also extend my congratulations and best wishes to the Chinese people and government. This Olympics will make Beijing the first city in the world to host both the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. Therefore, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to the Chinese people, the Chinese government and especially to the brothers and sisters living in Beijing, the capital of China, for having the opportunity to organize this magnificent sports competition.

Sports is an important opportunity to spread the message of brotherhood, harmony, friendship, unity and intimacy in the world. Holy events like the Olympic Games should not be linked with political maneuver and vested interests. Through this sport, everyone should take it as an opportunity to spread good relations among the citizens of the world, to establish creative talents through fair competition, and to promote talents. China has already hosted the 2008 Olympics, and the message is that it can host world-class events in the best possible way. I sincerely hope and believe that China will be able to host this Winter Olympics as well in a grand manner.

At this time, it is important for citizens, sports lovers and governments around the world to send a positive message for the grand success of the Winter Beijing Olympic Games. Through this sport, the contestants who have come to Beijing from different countries of the world to participate in the competition want to compete fairly and establish their country’s name and reputation even at the international level. So it needs to be propagated in a positive way.

On the other hand, China has achieved unprecedented success in the past two years in tackling the uncomfortable situation created by the Corona pandemic. Considering the corona infection, health safety measures have been made for the participants in the competition. I am confident that the security standards and all other arrangements are excellent, secure and reliable.

China has also made significant strides in developing corona vaccines over the past two years. Large number of Chinese people has been vaccinated. Now new variants of Corona are also appearing. China has developed the capability to test millions of people instantly and to treatment those who appear to be corona-positive in immediate isolation. This is China’s unprecedented success. No other country in the world has such a strong health system. Only China can do this. China has demonstrated its ability to control and test the entire city if a corona infection is found in a single city, and to treat and manage infected people properly, as well as preventing them from transmitting other diseases. That is why the world community is praising and encouraging China’s work. I am convinced that China can successfully carry out such large-scale events without allowing the Corona to spread.

China has made significant achievements in the development of the economy, science and technology, information and communication, space science, environment protection and sports. With China, Nepal needs to learn about managing large gatherings, its ability to provide world-class service, and so on. This Winter Olympics, there are no athletes from Nepal participating in the competition this time. 17 percent of Nepal’s land area is covered by mountains and snow. We are only using these mountains for adventurous trekking or climbing. Nepal has no players in that field as it has not been able to develop other sports related to snow. We must learn from China’s development in this field. We will seek technical assistance from China in sports, take advantage of the coaches, infrastructure related to sports and send players to China for training to upgrade the player’s skill, who want to participate in such competitions, to establish training centers in different places in Nepal It can be done.

Attempts are being made to spread confusion over the winter Beijing Olympic. It is not right to try to tarnish the opportunity to promote human harmony and establish intimacy like the Olympics. Between 1945 and 1990, there was a political conflict between the United States and Russia. At that time, the world was divided into two poles. At that time, the Olympic Games were turned into a playground for the selfish nations. Because of that, those who wanted to show their talent in the field of sports and move forward were disappointed. That diminished the dignity and importance of the game. Today, however, the world is in turmoil. It is not in a state of contraction like in the 1950s. At present, no country can benefit by depriving its own players from participating in the competition. Also, if someone decides not to participate in such competitions, it is not appropriate. We should not support such an effort. The decision not to participate in the Olympics is not in favor of human civilization and the development of sports. Therefore, in sports, no one should do politics under any pretext. We must be ready to spread the message of brotherhood, unity and harmony in the world through sports. If there is any other problem between the countries, it should not be linked with sports and it should be solved differently.

Finally, I wish the Winter Olympics grand success.

(Based on conversation)

Note:  Leelamani Paudyal is a Former Chief Secretary of Nepal Government, He is a Former Nepalese Ambassador to People’s Republic of China

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