The country will likely compete with India for the hosting rights to the 2014 Asian Games.

The Indian government approved Wednesday a proposal by the Indian Olympic Association to host the 2014 event in New Delhi.

The IOA will soon present to the Asian Olympic Committee an application to bid for the games.

New Delhi has twice hosted the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982, and is scheduled to hold the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

Meanwhile, the city of Gwangju and South Jeolla Province in South Korea have jointly submitted their bid to the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) to host the Asiad.

Doha, Qatar will hold the 2006 Asiad and Guangzhou, China, has the games in 2010.