Indian diplomats to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics

Context: Recently, India has announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics just ahead of the opening ceremony.
Key Reason

• The 2022 Winter Olympics is an international winter multi-sport event scheduled to be held in Beijing, China. 
• However, the event has been diplomatically boycotted by several countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, UK, India among others.
• These countries will send their athletes for the event, but no ministers or officials will attend.
• India is boycotting the servant due to China’s decision to pick a Chinese soldier involved in the Galwan incident as an Olympic torch-bearer.
• The other countries are boycotting due to the atrocities by China on Uyghur Muslims and human rights abuses in China.

About Winter Olympics

• The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice.
• The first Winter Olympic Games, were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France.
• The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted on three continents by twelve countries.
• First time India participated in winter Olympics in 1964 which was held in Austria.

Background

• The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948.
• Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year.
• In accordance with the 1986 decision by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to place the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years.