Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with the Olympic-bound athletes in New Delhi on July 4, 2024. Photo: X/@narendramodi

Confident that India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympics will be successful, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged athletes bound for this month’s Paris Games to share their views on the arrangements in the French capital to help the country’s ambitious push to bring the showpiece to India.

In an interaction with Paris-bound athletes, conducted both in person and online on July 4, Mr. Modi said those travelling to the French capital would do the country a huge service by providing inputs from their experience.

“We are hoping to host the Olympics in 2036, it will help in creating a sporting atmosphere. Work is in progress to prepare infrastructure for it,” he said in the interaction, which was attended by the national men’s hockey team, the shooting contingent, boxers and track-and-field stars such as Neeraj Chopra.

The interaction’s complete video was shared by Prime Minister’s Office on July 5.

“I won’t ask you to do anything in the middle of your events but when you are free, I would urge you to observe the arrangements. Your inputs will help our bid for 2036. We will have an understanding on how to make sure that we are better-prepared,” he added.

The upcoming Games will be held from July 26 to August 11 and India would be hoping to better its best ever tally of seven medals, including Chopra’s historic javelin throw gold, achieved in the Tokyo Games.

Over 100 Indian sportspersons have qualified for the Games, including an unprecedented 21 shooters, who would be aiming to end the medal drought of last two editions.

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Villacoublay, France:

Security is the Paris 2024 Olympics’ hottest topic and France intends to leave no stone unturned as it prepares to secure the Games with the help of anti-drone units.

The military base of Villacoublay just outside Paris will be the home of an anti-drone coordination centre where police, gendarmerie and army officers will work hand in hand to contain the threat posed by drones.

“Drones can be used to carry out a protest, or with a terrorist intent,” General Arnaud Bourguignon, General Officer in charge of air and anti-drone protection for the Games, told reporters on Thursday.

“We’ve seen that it was easy to use a drone for other purposes and turn it into a weapon.”

Officers will monitor air traffic during the Olympics and will be able to identify drones – either with radar or pictures sent by officers on the ground at the Olympic sites.

Some of the drones will be identified as ‘friends’ while others will be neutralised.

Officers will use one of the 15 heavy anti-drone units, which feature radar, cameras and a jamming antenna and can neutralise a drone kilometres away.

At their disposal will also be anti-drone rifles, which scramble the radio signal of a drone or take them down by laser.

Not all drones will need to be scrambled though.

“Some drones are being used by the media, but also to referee some events, so we cannot just ban them altogether,” said Bourguignon.

Although France has never been subject to a drone-led attack, the country was the target of Islamist attacks which involved a simultaneous assault by gunmen and suicide bombers on entertainment venues and cafes in Paris in Nov. 2015.

The Olympics will be held from July 26-Aug 11.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Paris:

A bag containing a computer and two USB memory sticks holding police security plans for the Paris Olympic Games was stolen on Monday evening from a train at the capital’s Gare du Nord station, police sources said Tuesday.

The bag belonged to an engineer from Paris City Hall, the police said, confirming a report by BFM television, adding that he had put the bag in the luggage compartment above his seat.

As his train was delayed, he decided to change trains at which point he discovered the theft. 

The engineer said his work computer and two USB sticks contained sensitive data, in particular the municipal police’s plans for securing the Olympics.

An investigation is being conducted by the regional transport police.

Paris City Hall was not able to immediately comment when contacted by AFP.

Two thousand municipal police officers will be deployed during the Games, with a total of around 35,000 security forces expected to be on duty each day for the Olympics that start on July 26.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)