India, NZ sport ministers meet to extend co-operation

Sports Minister Jitendra Singh met his New Zealand counterpart Murray McCully in a bid to increase co-operation and exchange of information between the two countries in the field of sports development and excellence.
The two sports ministers exchanged views on issues related to development of sports, here yesterday.
Singh expressed hope that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by between India and New Zealand would soon be operationalised and lead to greater co-operation between the two countries, a statement from the sports ministry said.
McCully, a former Minister for the Rugby World Cup, briefed about the the national training institute being set up in New Zealand. The Kiwi minister further spoke about the sports scholarships offered by his nation.

Meanwhile, Singh stresed on the importance of identification and nurturing of sports talent in the country and elaborated on the role of Sports Authority of India in setting up Centres of Excelence for training of elite sportspersons to represent India in international competitions.
Singh also stressed on the need to increase the quality of coaches in the country and said the focus should be on the emerging disciplines of sports science, sports medicine and sports administration.
New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Jan Henderson, Director South/South East Asia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Stephen Harris and Sports Secretary P K Deb were also present during the meeting.