 May we now request all those present and able to kindly rise for the Olympic Anthem. Main standing for the Indian National Anthem. We request the Honourable Prime Minister and the IOC President to kindly take their seats on the stage. We request our distinguished guests to kindly take their seats. We now invite the International Olympic Committee member, Mrs. Neeta Mukesh Ambani, to please make her opening address. Most respected Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Bhai Modi, International Olympic Committee President, Mr. Thomas Bach, distinguished guests and dear friends, Namaskar, Swagatam. Welcome to all of you. Respected Pradhan Mantriji, on behalf of the International Olympic Committee and the sporting fraternity in India and the world, I warmly welcome you. Respected Prime Minister, we are filled with immense joy and gratitude that you have joined us today. You are the leader of the world's largest democracy, architect of New India. Your support to sport has made this session in India a reality. IOC President Mr. Thomas Bach, members and delegates of the IOC from over 80 countries and friends of the Olympic movement. It is an absolute honour for us to host this historic IOC session in India after 40 years. Mumbai for the first time ever. Amchi Mumbai, our Mumbai, welcomes all of you. In our culture, we say, Atiti Devo Bhava. It means our guest is God. You all have arrived in India at an auspicious time on the eve of Navratri, a vibrant Hindu festival celebrated with song, dance and festivity that signifies the triumph of good over evil. My dear friends and colleagues, in this meeting of the IOC, I see the confluence of two wonderful forces. One is the Olympic movement which unites humanity and transcends all national, racial, religious and linguistic barriers. The other is India, the world's largest democracy as the host of this meeting. The mantra and motto of our 5,000-year-old civilization is Pasudeva Kutumbakam, which our Prime Minister declared as the theme at India's presidency of the G20 summit last month. It means the entire world is one family. Today, more than ever, our world needs to reunite in fraternity and solidarity. This cannot happen on battlefields. It can only happen on sports fields. In all of human history, there has never been a more magical force to promote peace, friendship, health, fitness, motivation and joy than sport. Sport energizes us, unites us and binds us together in the most beautiful ways. Friends, India was always a great cultural and spiritual power. Now, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Modiji, India is a rising economic power, technological power, a power in sustainable development, a philanthropic power and also a rising sporting power. Our young girls and boys are exhibiting incredible talent in diverse sporting arenas around the world. Most recently, they have made all of us proud at the Asian Games in China. Many of them come from very humble backgrounds and I'm happy to say that some of them are in our midst today. Let's give them a round of applause. In conclusion, my dear friends from the IOC, let me say this with great humility. India's potential is limitless. In the years to come, young Indians will excel globally in every field of human endeavour, including sport. This is the collective dream of 1.4 billion Indian hearts. It is also the collective determination of 1.4 billion Indian minds. Children are our hope. Children are our future. Today, we pledge to nurture and empower our 250 million school-going children through the Olympic values of friendship, excellence and respect, not just in Indian cities but also in the small towns and remotest villages of India. This meeting of the IOC is truly a defining moment in the history of sport in India. Today, let us recommit ourselves to the guiding principles of the Olympic movement and work towards Olympics of all, Olympics by all and Olympics for all. Our deliberations and discussions over the next three days will inspire and influence millions of young children in India and all over the world to embrace the transformational power of sport. Our children are the ones who will help to shape a better, brighter, kinder, greener, happier and more harmonious world. A shared future that unites all the 8 billion people on our beautiful and bountiful planet. Dear friends, today we are about to witness history. When our Prime Minister, Narendra Bhai Modi, declares the 141st IOC session open, India will once again open its arms to the world, not just as a host but as a torch bearer for the Olympic movement. On that note, I wish you all a very wonderful session and a very happy Navratri. Thank you. Dhaniawad Jai Hind, ladies and gentlemen, may I now request the President of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Thomas Bach, to address this gathering. Your Excellency Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, our dear IOC colleague and friend and wonderful host, Neeta Ambani, dear fellow IOC members, dear President of the Indian Olympic Association, P. T. Usha, dear Presidents and friends from the International Federations and National Olympic Committees, dear Olympic friends, Namaste. It is a great honor to welcome you all to the 141st IOC session in Mumbai. We are so pleased to be in India, a country on the rise in so many respects, including in Olympic sport. Your presence here today, dear Prime Minister, is a testimony to this growing importance of Olympic sport in your wonderful country. This is why I am offering you a very warm welcome. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, for praising us with your presence. Abkar Bohot, Bohot Suwagat. India is a truly inspiring place to hold our IOC session, a country that combines a splendid history and a dynamic present with a vigorous confidence in the future. Let me express our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to our gracious host, our dear colleague and friend, Nita Ambani, for welcoming us so warmly in this truly impressive setting. Already during our short term here, we could get a first impression of the excellent ways you, Nita, are promoting sport and athletes in India. What you have achieved in both business and sport is simply remarkable. Through your Reliance Foundation, you are bringing the Olympic values to millions of students, giving them the opportunity to build their lives in and through sport. You are spreading the Olympic spirit across your vast country, and in this way, you are making the world a better place through sport. Another illustration of the growing Olympic spirit is the outstanding performance of these Indian athletes at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. Congratulations to India on its record-breaking medal hall. This is something that the entire Olympic community in India can be very proud of. In this respect, I would also like to congratulate the Olympic Council of Asia under the leadership of Acting President Randhir Singh and, of course, the Chinese hosts for the once more brilliant organization of these Asian Games. At this session, we will have a discussion which may give another boost to this growth here in India. And we speak about a certain sport which I heard enjoys a certain level of popularity here. Rikit, our thanks also go to the Indian Olympic Association and its President, P. T. Usha, for the warm hospitality with which they have welcomed us. This IOC session should give you at the IOA a timely impulse on your journey of change and reform of Indian sport in every respect. India, with its dynamic and forward-looking young population, provides an appropriate setting for our IOC mission. Because we are here to chart the course for the future of our Olympic movement. Therefore, I do not want to dwell too much on the past. Let us turn to the future. In this future, the Olympic Games will likely become more inclusive, featuring a broad range of sports and athletes, and promoting diversity and gender equality. The Olympic movement may also adapt to changing societal values, addressing issues such as athletes' mental health and social justice, and striving to be a force for positive change on a global scale. Ultimately, the future of the Olympic Games promises to be a compelling fusion of tradition and progress, maintaining its status as a unifying global event while adapting to the changing values and expectations of the modern world. This very convincing analysis was obviously written by someone very intelligent and visionary, so it cannot be me. Who else do you think the author might be? Sorry, for once, it's not Pierre de Coubertin. What you just heard was generated by AI, artificial intelligence. I'm using this example to make it clear that our continued success depends on how we embrace the ever-excelerating development of technology, and in particular, AI. This makes our Olympic agenda 2020 imperative change or be changed even more urgent. And I'm very grateful to you, Mr. Prime Minister, that we had the opportunity to exchange on this right now in a very inspiring way. Every challenge comes with opportunities and risks. We need to seize these opportunities and we need to manage these risks. Allow me to give you some examples which I envision in this respect. AI has the potential to revolutionize the training of the athletes. Training programs for athletes will be developed by AI. This will offer the athletes an extremely individualized training plan, drawing on every intimate detail of the athletes' physical and mental conditions to optimize their performance. But what does it mean for the protection of all these intimate data? What will this mean for the role of a human coach? AI has the potential to revolutionize judging and refereeing. In some sports, you can already see the beginning. For the football fans among us, I just say VAR. For the tennis players, Hawkeye. What will AI mean for other sports where until now human judgment is deciding over victory or defeat, gymnastics, figure skating, boxing come to my mind. And of course the most illustrious examples of all, fencing. In all these and many other sports, the big question is, will AI replace or support the human referee? AI has the potential to revolutionize the organization of the Olympic Games. As we all know, the Olympic Games are the most complex event in the world. AI will help to reduce, streamline and optimize the work of organizing committees in all aspects of planning and running the Games down to the smallest detail. Running the Olympic Village more efficiently, managing spectator flows, transportation and venues, the list goes on. And all of this will make the organization extremely efficient. But do we really want to lose the human touch? Will this diminish the Olympic spirit? How can efficiency and the human spirit be reconciled? AI has the potential to revolutionize sports broadcasting. The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be the last Olympic Games of the pre-AI era. At the latest by the time of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, you will need far fewer people to produce and broadcast much higher quality content. What will this mean for the broadcast center of the Olympic Games? Will we still need one? AI has the potential to revolutionize the spectator experience. Augmented and virtual reality are already changing now how fans consume sport. AI is going to accelerate and enhance this. This spectator experience will be dramatically more immersive and more customized to the individual. In the end, every spectator can be the director of their own viewing experience. Will spectators still look for the experience together in a stadium? Or will they prefer to enjoy it just by themselves at home? Will there still be the collective memory of the iconic sporting moments that live in the hearts of generations of sports fans like us? These are just a few features of this AI future. Over the past year, I have delved into literature and asked experts to find out what opportunities AI will bring to sport. After reading countless articles and books and speaking with some of the brightest minds, I can tell you, not one of them. This is at this moment thinking about the impact of AI on sport. Here is our opportunity. If we are starting this discussion now, we can still contribute to shape this AI future for sport. As we did with Olympic agenda, we can change before we are being changed. If we do not address this issue now, then the purely technological and commercial interests will come over us like a tsunami. To seize this opportunity, it needs a change in mindset. The younger generation has a completely new way of thinking. They are living digital lives right now. We must not ignore their thinking if we do not want to jeopardize our own future. We must empower them to guide us with their young mindset. We have to be in the driver's seat. We have to devise a holistic analysis of the opportunities and risks of AI and then take action immediately. I am happy to inform you that this work is already underway. If things go well, you may see some first consequences of this already in Paris. And you will learn about it tomorrow during our session. For the medium to long-term future, our newly established AI working group of experts will guide us. They have the task to prepare an extensive overview of the opportunities and risks of AI for the Olympic movement, going far beyond what I have just tried to outline. The imperative of our Olympic agenda is change or be changed. Another important principle is sport needs to go where the people are. This is true for both worlds. The real and the digital one. Today's sport has to compete for the time and attention of young people. Therefore we have to reach out to the youth where they are in this digital world. This is not just a technological imperative, this is also a demographic imperative. The launch of the Olympic channel in the framework of Olympic agenda 2020 was our first step in this direction. This has proven to be very successful. Today we can be very proud that our digital platform olympics.com has seen hundreds of millions of unique users since the beginning of the IOC digital journey. With an all-time high of about 200 million unique users only during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Also on social media we have seen significant growth with 110 million followers across our channels and a monthly average of half a billion social media engagement. Many leaders are noticing our progress. One example is that we were just now awarded with the YouTube creator award joining the elite club of their most popular channels. Another dimension of this digital revolution is esports. There are 3 billion people playing esports and gaming around the world. It is estimated that over 500 million of them are interested specifically in esports which includes virtual sports and sport simulations. Sport is even more relevant to us, a majority of them are under the age of 34. This is why we took the strategic decision to engage with esports in a holistic way. We choose an approach that would allow us to be active in the esports space while staying true to our values that have guided us for over a century. With respect to esports our values are and remain the red line that we will not cross. Our crystal clear position is gaining more and more respect also in the esports community. One of the leading publishers even adapted their popular game to conform fully with our Olympic values so that players shot at targets not at people. Our first approach to this community was the organization of the esports forum 2018 in Los Angeles. Next we set up an esports liaison group to have a platform to engage with all the esports stakeholders. Following this we developed the Olympic virtual series in 2021. Our first pilot venture in esports. Following on the learnings from this Olympic virtual series we then launched the Olympic esports week in Singapore earlier this year. In Singapore we saw proof that our holistic approach is working. We successfully brought together the Olympic and the esports communities. A highlight was the thrilling live finals created in collaboration with IAFs and publishers. Over 130 players from across the globe came together to compete in the Olympic spirit on the global stage in 10 mixed gender category events. Players were cheered on by a full house of fans with all the action streamed online. Overall the Olympic esports series attracted over 500,000 unique participants. The Olympic esports series generated more than 6 million views of live action overall channels with 75% of views from people aged 13 to 14. This was a promising start but it is just that, a start. It is like in any sport after even a promising start the real race still lies ahead. To compete successfully in this race IAF asked our new IOC esports commission to study the creation of Olympic esports games, AI and esports. These are our two opportunities. To seize these two opportunities and to manage the risks we need a new mindset. We need the mindset of the young people. We have to trust and to empower them because the pace of change will be exponential. It is change or be changed once again. In all these changes we have to be guided by our values as expressed in our Olympic agenda 2020 plus 5. Since its adoption in March 2021 it already had a significant impact on the IOC and the wider Olympic movement. This is why a major focus of this session will be a midway evaluation of what we have achieved so far and we will look ahead at what still needs to be done. In this respect the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be an excellent demonstration of the enduring relevance of our values in our times. The athletes, the fans, the entire Olympic community, all of us are looking forward to Paris which will truly be Olympic Games of a new era. Younger, more inclusive, more urban, more sustainable. The first Olympic Games with full gender parity. The first Olympic Games inspired, planned and delivered in line with our Olympic agenda reforms from start to finish. We all feel great anticipation. Our expectations for this Olympic Games Paris 2024 are shared by billions of people around the globe. After the Covid pandemic people are longing to come together again. They are longing to celebrate the Olympic spirit together again. Our friends of the Paris 2024 organizing committee are doing a fantastic job at bringing these first Olympic Games of a new era to life in all these dimensions. The slogan Games Wide Open is about creating inclusive Olympic Games in all respects. Even spectators will have the opportunity to become participants. This is how we go to where the people are now in the real world. Iconic monuments will be transformed into competition venues, bringing sport into the heart of the city. The public can take part in sports events such as the Marathon Portus, the Marathon for All, when 40,000 people will be able to run the same marathon route just hours before the Olympic athletes. Urban sports, like sport climbing, skateboarding or braking, will feature prominently right in the city center of Paris. 34 years ago Paris 2024 launched an ambitious program introducing 30 minutes of daily exercise in primary schools throughout France. They are on track to reach more than 4 million children. With its Théâtre-de-jeux initiative, Paris 2024 is promoting sport and physical activity in over 4,000 municipalities across France, again taking sport to where the people are. Another significant milestone will be full gender parity at the Olympic Games for the first time in history. The IOC has allocated exactly 50 percent of the quota places to female athletes and exactly 50 percent to male athletes. Paris is setting new standards also when it comes to organize sustainable Olympic Games. They are aiming to reduce their emissions by 50 percent compared to the average emissions of the previous Games. To achieve this, the Games will be powered by 100 percent of renewable energy. The Games will use 95 percent existing or temporary venues. With these and other measures, Paris is very much on track to achieve this ambitious goal already six years ahead of the global 2030 target set by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. In our Olympic Agenda 2020, we are speaking about the uniqueness and the magic of the Olympic Games. So I invite you to imagine for one moment the uniqueness and the magic of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Imagine and dream with me about the spectacular sights as the boats with the athletes float down the River Seine. Past iconic landmarks, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre. Imagine and share the dreams of the athletes. Imagine their emotions when hundreds of thousands of people are welcoming them to the Olympic Games, celebrating them from the river banks. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. We all share this dream with the best athletes of the world coming to the Olympic Games Paris 2024. There is not only an overwhelming response from all the athletes, but also from the public. This excitement is reflected in the ticket sales. The requests for tickets go far beyond the 7 million tickets that have already been sold. There is huge demand for the remaining 3 million tickets that are still to be released. People from 180 countries bought tickets so far, showing the global appeal of the Olympic Games. The world's political leaders are also voicing their support for the Olympic Games and the values they stand for. The most recent example of this is the declaration of the G20 leaders at their summit here in India. They said that they, and I quote, look forward to the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024 as a symbol of peace, dialogue amongst nations and inclusivity with participation of all. End of quote. We are greatly encouraged by this commitment of the G20 leaders for the first time, including the African Union, to the unifying peace mission of the Olympic Games. For this commitment, I would like to thank the host and chair of this G20 summit, the Prime Minister of India, his excellency Narendra Modi. Dear Prime Minister, we have a certain idea. How difficult it is to reach a consensus in these divisive and confrontational times we are living in. Congratulations and thank you, Prime Minister Modi, for your leadership and your great support for the Olympic Games. I would also like to thank the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, for his leadership and full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Not only as a, not only as a signatory of this G20 declaration, but in particular for his confidence in the IOC to bring the entire world together in peaceful competition. And the same spirit we know that we can count on our French friends who will inspire us with their great passion for sport. This unifying mission also enjoys the support from the non-aligned movement, which brings together 120 of the 193 UN member states. From so many conversations that I have with people and world leaders around the globe, I know how much there are longing for our unifying force in this highly divided and confrontational world. Our peace mission is more important than ever, with the far too many wars and conflicts that we are witnessing in our world today. So let us all together make these Olympic Games Paris 2024 this symbol of peace, dialogue and hope for all humankind. What better place than Paris to showcase Olympic Games of a new era? Paris, the birthplace of our founder Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, the city of light, Paris, the city of love. As Pierre de Coubertin once said, and I quote him, the Olympic Games are a pilgrimage to the past and an act of faith in the future. The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will be exactly this, a pilgrimage to our past in the hometown of our founder and a confident act of faith in our future. In this spirit, we live our new Olympic motto, faster, higher, stronger together. Thank you very much. Thank you President Bach. And now, with the greatest joy and respect, I have the honour of inviting the most honourable Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, for his keynote address to this August gathering. IOC's President, Mr. Thomas Bach, IOC's respected fellow, all international sports traditions, all representatives of the national traditions of India, give your suggestions. From the 140 crore Indians, I welcome all of you to this special gathering. The 141st session of the International Olympic Association is very special. 40 years later, the IOC session will be held in India. It is a very important thing for us. Friends, just a few minutes ago, India has won the world's largest stadium in Amdabad. I, team India, give this historic victory to all Indians. Friends, in sports India, an important part of our culture, our lifestyle is being shared. If you go to the villages of India, you will find that every festival of our sport is incomplete. We Indians are not only sports lovers, but we are people who live sports. And this is reflected in our history of thousands of years. Whether it is the Indus Valley Civilization, thousands of years ago, or the time period after that, in every Kalkhand, the legacy of India is very valuable. In the books written thousands of years ago, in 64 traditions, it is said that there is a tradition. Many of these traditions were connected to games, such as horse riding, archery, swimming, wrestling. Such many skills were given to learn. Archery, i.e. to learn Dhanur Vidya, was written as a whole Dhanur Ved Sahita. In this Sahita, where has one place gone? Dhanusha, Chakrancha, Kutancha, Khadgancha, Shree Ka Gada, Saptamambahu Yuddam, Shaadevam Uddhani Saptada. i.e. Dhanur Vidya se judi, saad prakara ki skills aani chahiye, jis main Dhanushwaan, Chakra, Bhala, i.e. aad ka Javelin Throh, Talabar Bhaji, Dagger, Gada, and Kusti Shamil. The thousands of years old legacy of Satya Sports, has many scientific evidence. Where we are in Mumbai, about 900 km away from there, in Kutch, is the world heritage site of UNESCO, Dholavira. Dholavira, 5000 years back, used to be a very big and modern sports city. In this ancient city, along with urban planning, sports infrastructure is also a wonderful model. During the time of God, two stadiums have come here. One of them is the oldest stadium in the world, and at that time, the world's largest stadium. In the 5000 years old stadium of India, there was the capacity to sit together with 10,000 people. Another ancient site of India, even in Rakhi Gadi, has been recognized as the structure of sports. This heritage of India is the heritage of the whole world. Friends, there is no loser in sports. In sports, there are only winners and learners. The language of sports is universal. Spirit is universal. Sports is not just a competition. Sports gives humanity the opportunity of its own existence. Records of any kind, the whole world welcomes it. Sports makes the feeling of a one-family, one-future less possible. That is why our government is working with all its resources to increase the game. Games of India, university games, games of India, youth games, games of India, winter games, members of parliament, sports competition, and soon-to-be games of India. For the development of the games of India, we are also focusing on inclusivity and diversity. Friends, because of this focus of India, today India is doing a fantastic presentation in international events. In the last Olympics, many Indian athletes did a great presentation. India has given a historical performance in the Asian Games. Before that, even in the world university games, our young athletes made a new record. This is a sign of sports landscape. Friends, in the past years, India has proved its ability to organize global sports tournaments. Recently, we organized the Chess Olympiad, in which 186 countries participated. We sent women's world cup, men's hockey world cup, women's world boxing championship, and we also sent women's world cup shooting world cup. India is the biggest cricket league in the world every year. At this time, cricket world cup is also going on in India. Everyone is happy to hear that IOC's Executive Board has agreed to participate in the Olympics. We are hopeful that we will soon get to hear some positive news. Friends, global events are an opportunity for us to welcome all over the world. Because of the rapidly increasing economy and well-developed infrastructure, India is ready for major global events. This world has seen India's G20 presidency as well. We have organized events in more than 60 cities across the country. Our organizing capacity is increasing with logistics. Therefore, today, I would like to present to you all the feelings of 144 crore Indian athletes. In 1936, there will be a success in the Olympics in India. For this, India will not have any shortcomings in its efforts. This is an old dream of 144 crore Indian athletes. This is their dream. Now, I would like to complete this dream with your help. And before 2036 Olympics, India is going to be in the 2029 Olympics. It is also expected to participate in the Youth Olympics. I am confident that India will continue to get the best of IOC. Friends, sports is not just about winning medals, it is about winning deals. Sports is for everyone. Sports is not only about the champions, but also about peace, progress and wellness. That is why, sports is another source of success for the world. I would like to present to you the fastest, higher, stronger, together. In the 144th year of IOC, I am again grateful to all the athletes, the athletes of Adyaksha Thomas Bag and all the delegates. In the coming few hours, you will have to take many important decisions. I now declare the session open. Thank you, Honourable Prime Minister for your inspiring address. We now request the Honourable Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi and the International Olympic Committee President, Mr. Thomas Bag, to please kindly take their seats in the Grand Theatre with our esteemed dignitaries.