Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start his maiden state visit to the United States with something close to his heart – yoga. In New York, which is his first pitstop before he heads to Washington DC, the PM will lead foreign dignitaries, bureaucrats, and entrepreneurs in a session for International Yoga Day (21 June) at the United Nations Secretariat.
Preparations are in full swing at the UN headquarters, where Modi will participate in the celebrations for the ninth edition of Yoga Day during his US visit. For millions of Indians, it’s a moment of pride and one of déjà vu. Since 2015, the PM has been leading yoga sessions on 21 June across Indian cities – Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Dehradun, Ranchi, and Mysore. Now for the first time, the event is going global with Modi taking centre stage.
The PM has been a strong proponent of yoga. Today, the ancient practice has become one of India’s most popular exports with more and more people taking to it worldwide. According to the International Yoga Federation, about 300 million practised worldwide in 2021. In the United States, the number of yoga practitioners has gone up since 2010. In that year, around 21 million Americans reported having done yoga at least once a year. By 2021, that number had reached roughly 34.4 million, a 63.8 per cent increase, according to Satista.
Indian embassies and consulates across the world organise yoga sessions and they have several takers. Every 21 June, pictures of flash mobs practising yoga from every corner of the world – from Times Square in the US to the Great Wall of China – flood the internet. This year will be no different.
Modi’s role in Yoga Day
PM Modi certainly has a role to play. He came to power in May 2014 with a vision for India and its foreign policy. Yoga was part of the plan; he wanted to ensure the popularity of the ancient Indian practice grows.
It was the PM who suggested that 21 June should be celebrated the world over as Yoga Day. He wanted it to get attention on a global scale and chalked out a plan with a deadline of 2015.
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Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, former permanent representative of India to the United Nations, told India Today, “In July of 2014, we were planning (PM Modi’s) first visit to New York. This was when Prime Minister Modi surprised us by announcing that he felt the need to bring yoga to the fore and garner international attention.”
The PM took all diplomats by surprise since yoga never featured in matters of foreign policy until then.
At his first speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2014, Modi said, “Yoga is an invaluable gift of our ancient tradition… It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change.”
“Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day,” he concluded.
Taking the cue, then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and then UN ambassador Ashoke Mukherjee chalked out the way forward. Within months, more than 170 countries backed the initiative at the UN.
On 11 December 2014, United Nations General Assembly adopted an India-led resolution commemorating 21 June as International Yoga Day, recognising that yoga “provides a holistic approach to health and well-being”.
The resolution was introduced by Asoke Mukerji on Thursday and had 175 nations joined as co-sponsors, the highest number for any General Assembly resolution. It was the first time that such an initiative has been proposed and implemented by any country in the UN body in less than 90 days.
The first International Yoga Day was celebrated with great gusto the world over. India led by example. The event held at Rajpath, now Kartavyapath in New Delhi, entered the Guinness World Records Book, with 35,985 participants performing asanas at one venue and 84 nationalities being part of it.
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Leading from the front
We often celebrate the big firsts but the PM has ensured that the enthusiasm around yoga does not die down. Year after year, he takes time out to lead the celebrations.
Modi has promoted yoga so much that even foreign diplomats have been seen stretching themselves in gardens and embassy offices. Government bureaucrats and officers often take to social media to show themselves folding in different poses and sometimes tiredly grabbing their backs after mass outdoor yoga sessions. And the Indian army takes time out for some asanas in Siachen, the highest battlefield on earth.
But yoga is not an annual event for Modi. The leader, who lives an ascetic life, is known to practice it religiously every day. He takes time out from his hectic schedule for Avartan Dhyan or cyclic meditation.
“Modi ji’s dedication towards yoga is so high that even if he’s travelling around the world, he never fails to dedicate some time to his yoga routine,” PM personal yoga consultant, HR Nagendra, had told Hindustan Times in 2021.
According to him, the PM’s fondness for yoga is not restricted to asanas that strengthen physical health. “…he’s also focused on strengthening the mind to achieve a state of holistic health and well-being,” Nagendra told the publication.
This is something the PM has also reiterated time and again. In September 2019, he spent a night before the election, in a cave 11,700 feet up in the Himalayas near the Kedarnath shrine meditating.
This year, before he headed to the US, Modi shared a set of videos titled “Yoga with Modi”, a tutorial of sorts for his 89.4 million followers on Twitter.
In a tweet in Hindi, he wrote, “Yoga increases both the strength of the body and peace of mind. Let us make it part of our daily routine for a healthy life. Sharing some videos of different asanas with you.”
योग शरीर की शक्ति और मन की शांति दोनों को बढ़ाता है। आइए, स्वस्थ जीवन के लिए इसे हम अपनी दिनचर्या का हिस्सा बनाएं। विभिन्न आसनों के कुछ वीडियो आपके लिए साझा कर रहा हूं।https://t.co/Ptzxb88JCn
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 17, 2023
With his zeal and dedication, the PM inspires millions around the world.
Surinder Goel, a 61-year-old yoga instructor in the capital, New Delhi, told The Associated Press that yoga is “India’s contribution to the world… Our prime minister has done a great job in spreading yoga to the world. Today, even the Muslim countries learn and follow it, only because of the PM.”
Three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej, who will be attending the Yoga Day session in New York said, “Yoga has gained strong prominence worldwide because of PM Modi. This year, Yoga Day at the United Nations headquarters in New York will be extra special because PM Modi is leading everyone.”
India’s yoga diplomacy has worked and how. The UN event is a feather in the cap.
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