- Saturday, November 23, 2024
The session saw presence of top officials of the UN, diplomats and prominent individuals from across the world.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (21) said while leading an unprecedented yoga session at the United Nations headquarters in New York that yoga does not belong to any one nation, religion or ethnicity.
The leader, who reached the Big Apple for a four-day state visit to the US, said this on the occasion of the ninth International Day of Yoga, which he himself had suggested in a speech at the UN in 2014, the year he first became the prime minister.
His proposal to mark the International Day of Yoga as an annual celebration has now become a UN-mandated occasion.
Delighted to take part in the #YogaDay programme at @UN HQ. Let us make Yoga a part of our lives and further wellness. https://t.co/XvsB8AYfGs
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 21, 2023
“Yoga is free from copyright, patents and royalties,” Modi said while making a speech at the event. He was sporting a light attire for the yoga and had among his audience several yoga enthusiasts looking forward to an engaging day.
The session saw presence of top officials of the UN, diplomats and prominent individuals from across the world. The attendees were from more than 180 nations and represented various walks of life, including diplomacy, art, academic and business.
Since its first celebration in 2015, the International Day of Yoga has grown in popularity with events held at several iconic locations across the world. In a message preceding the event, the prime minister emphasised on the unifying nature of yoga.
“India has always nurtured traditions that unite, adopt and embrace,” he said.
Modi also said that the celebration this year was unique as researchers at India’s research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic were also taking part.
Ruchira Kamboj, India’s permanent representative to the UN, seconded Modi’s thoughts and said the yoga event, which generated a lot of excitement, was a very “unique occasion.”
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres praised the practice as a uniting force in his message on the occasion.
He underscored the critical benefits of yoga in a world fraught with danger and division, saying that it offers a haven of calm, reduces anxiety and promotes mental well-being.
The yoga session took place between 8 and 9 am local time at the North Lawn in the UN headquarters. Modi also paid respects to a bust of Mahatma Gandhi which was installed during India’s presidency of the UN Security Council in December last year as a gift from the South Asian nation to the global body.
The prime minister acknowledged the memorial to the iconic leader and noted India’s significant contribution as the largest troop and police-contributing country to the UN’s peacekeeping forces.
