Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet the Indian contingent that competed at the Asian Games 2026 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, as the country celebrates its second-best medal haul in the history of the Games.
The interaction, scheduled for the afternoon, will bring together athletes, coaches, support staff, Indian Olympic Association officials, representatives of national sports federations and officials from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, with the Prime Minister also expected to address the gathering.
85 Medals, India’s Second-Best Haul
India finished fourth in the medal tally at the Games held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, winning 85 medals — including 21 gold, 27 silver and 37 bronze. Only the Hangzhou 2023 haul of 106 medals stands above it in India’s Asian Games history.
The performance reflected India’s growing competitiveness across a diverse range of disciplines, extending well beyond the country’s traditional strongholds.
Historic Firsts Across Disciplines
The Games produced a string of landmarks: historic performances in recurve archery, gold medals for both the men’s and women’s hockey teams in the same edition, and maiden medals in soft tennis and mixed martial arts.
India also claimed its first-ever gold in the women’s trap shooting event, a silver in weightlifting after a gap of 28 years, and a silver in Greco-Roman wrestling that ended a 64-year wait for an Indian finalist in the discipline. Athletics contributed 24 medals — the highest for any sport in India’s tally.
A Step Toward LA 2028
The archery campaign matched the record haul from Hangzhou with nine medals, including five golds, and the compound mixed team victory also secured an Olympic quota for LA 2028 — a reminder that the Asian Games form part of a longer road.
The Prime Minister’s meeting with the contingent is both a celebration of the Aichi-Nagoya achievement and a signal of intent for the road ahead, as Indian sport targets its biggest prizes in the seasons to come.
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Arunachal’s own athletes are part of this sporting surge — weightlifter Anai Wangsu overcame chronic illness to clinch gold.
