The Australia India Youth Dialogue, a formal dialogue between the youth of Australia and India, has called for exploring possibilities to use sports as a medium for economic, political and cultural exchange.

“Both nations must think beyond national borders and recognise the potential of this transnational sporting landscape in order to envisage the future of sport in the Indo-Pacific region in the 21st century,’ said a task force report.

It said that while India needs to demonstrate progress both in the sphere of high performance sport and grassroots sport, “the sheer financial and human resources scale of this challenge need not lead to an exclusionary competition, where focus on high performance sports leads to a neglect of grassroots sport.” The report said from the Australian side that it is crucial to seek opportunities for sports-related exchange activity within the core business of existing viable institutions such as education, diplomacy and the private sector (especially corporate social responsibility).

“As an effective CSR medium, sport can build values that any socially business strives for. These include qualities like team work, fair play, involving suppliers and employees, as well as building good community relations,” Rekha Dey, Australian Sports Outreach Programme Coordinator, said at an event held here recently.

The biggest challenge in this initiative is that international sporting exchange is viewed through a narrow lens, which is largely confined to India seeking international coaching expertise for Indian athletes, the report said.

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