Kyrgyzstan seeks India's aid in promoting Kabaddi

On Thursday, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju, met Asein Isaev, the Kyrgyz Republic Ambassador, to discuss the possibility of India and Kyrgyzstan joining hands in sports and youth affairs.

Isaev, who is keen on promoting the sport of Kabaddi in his country, requested for India's help for the same. In response, Rijju assured them full support and promised to aid them in their objective.

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"Sports Minister @KirenRijiju met Asein Isaev, Ambassador, Kyrgyz Republic today and discussed the possibility of the two countries forging alliances in sports and youth affairs. Asein Isaev requested for assistance in promoting kabaddi in his country and was assured of support," Kiren Rijiju Office's wrote on social media platform Twitter.

The sport of Kabaddi originated in the modern Tamil region of the Indian subcontinent. India has been the most successful country when it comes to Kabaddi. They have won all six Kabaddi world cups played till now. Iran is the second most successful country having finished as the runner-up three times.

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So far, all the World Cups have been held in India. Understandably, the sport is widely popular in India and with the advent of the franchise-based league, the Pro Kabaddi League, it has seen an exponential growth in terms of popularity.

In Kyrgyzstan, the sport is still in its early stages. Naturally, they have turned to India for help. If the Indian national team features in a few matches in the country, it might to do a whole lot of good in popularising the game there.