India has given a good impression of a country that views the Commonwealth as an embarrassment.
It should be an honour to host the commonwealth Games. We hoped that India would use the event to show the world that it is not just an emerging superpower with nuclear weapons and a space
programme, but a country with a sense of pride — as China did with the Beijing Olympics. Instead, India has given a good impression of a country that views the Commonwealth as an
embarrassment. Advance parties from England, Scotland, Australia and Canada arrived to find squalid and even incomplete accommodation. There were reports of walls bubbling with mould and floors
covered with pools of stagnant water. The site is so structurally unsound that one of the footbridges collapsed.
Why haven’t the Indian authorities admitted the gravity of their mistakes? They blame an aggressive monsoon season rather than poor planning or a lack of attention to detail. The local press
refers to the ‘Con Games’, and the cost is deeply resented.
As anyone who has visited the country will know, Indians are hospitable by nature. But there is no excuse for treating the Commonwealth athletes in such a shoddy fashion. The Canadians, who lost
out to India in the bid to stage these games, have every reason to feel aggrieved.
The significance of India’s failure stretches beyond sport. The Commonwealth is an important forum for international diplomacy, trade and innovation. Regardless of whether India shares this
view, the Games attract interest from across the world — even from its trading partners. And what the world is seeing now is not impressive.
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