New Delhi, Jul 27 (IANS): As Achanta Sharath Kamal and P.V Sindhu led the Indian contingent at the Opening Ceremony of the XXXIII Olympic Games in Paris, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to the Indian athletes and hoped they would inspire us "with their exceptional performances".

Sindhu and Sharath were the two flag-bearers of a 117-strong Indian contingent, 78 members of which participated in the Opening Ceremony in Paris on Friday as the Indians went into the Games hoping to improve on their best-ever performance of seven medals in the previous edition in Tokyo.

Prime Minister Modi called every athlete "India's pride", and hoped they would "embody the true spirit of sportsmanship".

"As the Paris #Olympics commences, my best wishes to the Indian contingent. Every athlete is India’s pride. May they all shine and embody the true spirit of sportsmanship, inspiring us with their exceptional performances," Prime Minister Modi wrote in his message on X, formerly Twitter.

The Indian sportspersons will be expecting to open their medal account on Saturday when India’s 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team pairings of Olympian Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh and Ramita and Arjun Babuta take aim at the Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, a small town of under 50,000 citizens, approximately 300 km south of Paris.

Indian athletes will be in action on the first day of the quadrennial event in seven sports disciplines including hockey, shooting and badminton.