Commonwealth Games will bring about friendship among nations

The Indian High Commission hosted a reception at Hotel Cinnamon Lakeside on the evening of June 17, 2010, to mark the arrival of the Queen's Baton Relay 2010 in Colombo for the XIX Commonwealth Games, to be held in Delhi from October 3-14, 2010.

The reception included a roadshow by the Ministry of Tourism of the Government of India to highlight tourism opportunities in India.

Welcoming the Queen's Baton Relay, High Commissioner Shri Ashok K. Kantha thanked the guests for their presence and joining in the festive spirit of the Games. He observed that he was particularly happy that this event was taking place immediately after the most successful State visit of the President of Sri Lanka to India.

This landmark visit has further enriched and reinforced close bonds between the peoples of India and Sri Lanka. The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in October 2010 would also be all about strengthening the bonds of friendship among the peoples of the Commonwealth family of nations - a large family of over two billion citizens belonging to different faiths and ethnicities.

The High Commissioner added that India was extremely proud to host this quadrennial gathering of athletes, sportsmen and sportswomen from around the world and celebrate the spirit of diversity, which is an important ideal of the Games. The journey of the Queen's Baton, which arrived in Colombo on June 17 also symbolizes the unity and shared ideals of the Commonwealth of Nations and enables communities beyond the Host City to share in the Games celebrations.

Tracing its historic voyage around the globe, the High Commissioner pointed out that the Queen's Baton began its journey on October 29, 2009 from the Buckingham Palace in London and, after travelling through all the other 70 Commonwealth nations, covering a distance of more than 170,000 kilometres in 240 days the baton would arrive in India.

The relay will conclude after the final baton-bearer enters the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 19th Commonwealth Games on October 3, 2010 where the Queen's message will be removed from the baton and read aloud, thus signifying officially the opening the Games. In India itself, the Baton will be on a 100 day national tour, visiting the capital of each of India's 28 States and seven union territories, plus many other cities along the way, covering more than 20,000 kilometres.

By the end of its journey, the Baton will have traversed over 190,000 kilometres in 340 days, making the Queen's Baton Relay 2010 Delhi one of the longest relays in the history of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton will have passed through thousands of hands, and travelled by different modes of transport across land, air and sea.