Srinagar: As the Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) 2025 opened in Leh on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped the event with snow games scheduled to be held at Gulmarg, the Kashmir Valley premier ski resort, “will play a crucial role in taking our sporting excellence to the next level.”
In his message to KIWG 2025, the Prime Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to spread sports activities across the country and said that J&K and Ladakh have not only elevated the culture of sports in the country but also boosted tourism and showcased the nation's beauty and diversity.
“Our government attaches top priority to sports development in Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Through 100 Khelo India centres in J&K and three in Ladakh, including a State Centre of Excellence in Leh for athletics, archery, and boxing, our efforts are shaping the region into a hub of sporting excellence,” he asserted.
A spokesman of the Ladakh administration said that on an icy morning, the KIWG 2025 got off to a rousing start at the iconic NDS Stadium in Leh on Thursday. The events started with ice hockey matches at the NDS complex and the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre. Nineteen teams from various states and Union territories and institutional outfits like Army and ITBP, are competing. A total of 594 participants, of which 428 are athletes, are involved in the Ladakh leg of KIWG 2025. This is the second time Ladakh is hosting the winter Games, into its fifth edition, the officials said.
The first part of the KIWG 2025 being hosted by the Union Territory of Ladakh will conclude on January 27. The second part of the games will be hosted by J&K at 2,650 metre high Gulmarg between February 22 and 25.
“Leh’s 5,000-capacity NDS stadium showed the spirit and romanticism of adventure sports on a freezing day as Prime Minister Mr. Modi congratulated Ladakh and J&K for organising the first major sports meet of the national calendar and demonstrating to the world why they are hotspots for winter sports,” a statement issued in Leh said.
Union Minister for sports Mansukh Mandaviya could not attend the inaugural function as the flight from Delhi he was travelling in could not land at Leh’s Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport due to bad weather. He, however, flashed a message to Leh declaring the games open. Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier BD Mishra, and several other dignitaries were present in the opening ceremony that was highlighted by teams marching past the VIP podium on their skates. A cultural display and an exhibition ice-hockey match made for a crisp opening ceremony.
Mr. Mandaviya expressed his disappointment at missing the opening ceremony but cheered all the stakeholders saying that India was truly a “4D sports destination.” He said, “If I talk of one and a great united India, then I also look at the diversity hidden in it and the benefits that come from it. Currently we are in Leh, we can hold the Winter Games here due to the prevalent weather conditions. If we go towards the Northeast, it's a great region for the development of adventure sports”. He added, “Going forward, we will explore the immense possibilities of beach games in South India, we will see all our other popular games being organised on the west coast. This tells us that we are a 4D Nation in terms of sports.”
The sports minister stated that after a successful 2024 where India excelled in chess, cricket, Olympics and the Paralympics in Paris the future looks good. “While laying the foundation of the Khelo India Winter Games, we had a dream about this amazing sporting event. That dream was to present a tough challenge to the world on behalf of India in every sphere of sport and to sing 'Jana Gana Mana' while standing atop the Winter Olympics podium,” he said. He added, “Khelo India Winter Games is that school where we are preparing the stars of the Winter Olympics in the coming years. These stars are being forged by toiling hard, so we may expect the fruits of this labour in due course.”
