Union sports activities minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday reacted to Indian boxer Narender Berwal’s anecdote a few Pakistani opponent, who, in keeping with the boxer, advised him he had begun to hate the identify “Narendra”.
“Narendra naam ka khauf hai Pakistan mein,” Mandaviya posted on X in Hindi, that means, “The identify ‘Narendra’ is feared in Pakistan”. He was referring to the anecdote Berwal narrated throughout his interplay with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Berwal, who received a silver medal within the males’s 90kg boxing class on the 2026 Commonwealth Video games in Glasgow, was among the many Indian medal winners who met PM Modi at his residence in New Delhi on Sunday.
Through the interplay, a video of which has gone viral, Narender Berwal recalled an incident involving a Pakistani boxer on the 2015 World Navy Video games. He stated that after he defeated the Pakistani opponent, whom he didn’t identify, the 2 went to hospital for therapy after struggling cuts when their heads collided through the bout.
Berwal stated the Pakistani boxer then identified that his identify was Narender, his coach was additionally named Narender and India’s prime minister was Narendra.
“Bhai jaan… Mujhe Narendra naam se nafrat ho gayi hai,” Berwal quoted the Pakistani boxer as saying, “Brother expensive, I’ve come to hate the identify ‘Narendra’!”
The comment prompted Modi to snigger. The video was shared additionally on the Prime Minister’s YouTube channel and different social media retailers.
Narendra and Narender are the identical identify with regional variations in spellings relying on phonetics — the boxer is from Haryana, and Modi from Gujarat.
Narender Berwal was amongst 10 Indian boxers who returned from Glasgow with medals. India received seven gold and three silver medals in boxing, its best-ever haul within the sport at a Commonwealth Video games.
India completed the 2026 Commonwealth Video games with 39 medals — 13 gold, 17 silver and 9 bronze — and completed fourth within the total standings.
India is ready to host the 2030 Commonwealth Video games in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the house state of PM Modi and minister Mandaviya.
