More than 5,000 participants from over 100 countries are expected to take part in the 4th Military World Games (WMG) in October at Hyderabad and Mumbai.
BRUSSELS: More than 5,000 participants from over 100 countries are expected to take part in the 4th Military World Games (WMG) to be hosted by India in October at Hyderabad and Mumbai.
The MWG, or better said the military Olympic games, are organized by the Brussels-based International Military Sports Council (CISM) every four years.
The fundamental aim of the CISM is to bring the soldiers from the battlefield to the sports field "in order to give an humble contribution to world peace", Colonel Michel van Meurs, Secretary General of CISM, said in an interview.
Hyderabad will host all the games, except sailing and triathlon, which will take place in Mumbai, from October 14-21.
"We will bring between five to six thousand soldiers in India from over 100 countries,'' said the lively and excited colonel from the Netherlands.
"It is not normal to bring 6,000 soldiers together in friendship, because normally we bring them to war to fight, or to defend something," he added.
India has dispatched a young and bright lt. colonel to act as the liaison officer at the CISM. Amod Chadha said India joined CISM in 1999 only and has been actively involved in all the activities of the organization.
The MWG was awarded to India in 2003 after the visit of CISM officials to Hyderabad during the first Afro-Asian games.
"India wanted to leave its imprint with a bang,'' Chadha told INEP explaining the reason why India decided to host the games. "We are happy that for the first time we took the game outside Europe,'' commented Col. Meurs.
The last three WMG were held in Rome in 1995, Zagreb in 1999 and Catania (Italy) in 2003.
CISM was formed on Feb 18, 1948 with five founder members - France, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg - to stimulate a desire amongst the military to meet in sport arenas instead of battle grounds.
Over the years, the membership has steadily increased with a present membership of 127 countries from all over the world.
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