Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a yoga session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga, which saw the participation from top UN officials, global envoys and celebrities.
After arriving at the UN Headquarters in New York, Modi paid tribute to a Gandhi statue, and visuals from the ground showed several hundred yellow yoga mats across the headquarters' North Lawn.
Addressing the Yoga Day event at the UN headquarters, PM Modi said:
"We've gathered here at the meeting point of entire humanity. I am delighted to see you all and thank you all for coming. I am told that almost every nationality is represented here today. Yoga means to unite, so you are coming together is an expression of another form of Yoga."
"Yoga comes from India and it is a very old tradition. Yoga is free from copyrights, patents and free from royalty payments. Yoga is adaptable to your age, gender and fitness level. Yoga is portable and is truly universal," he said.
The star-studded guest list comprised of personalities like:
New York Mayor Eric Adams, UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J. Mohammed, famous hollywood actor and human rights advocate Richard Gere, digital evangelist Vala Afshar, award-winning storyteller Jay Shetty, award-winning Indian chef Vikas Khanna, Mike Hays, renouned US Navy SEAL Britt Kelly Slabinski and others.
American singers and actress Mary Millben and Falguni Shah, three-times Grammy Award-winning artist Ricky Kej, CNN anchor Zain Asher and Jahnavi Jivana Dasi, a British musician, also participated in the event.
Modi then departed for Washington DC, where he is set to participate in a background briefing conducted by Donald Lu, the assistant secretary of the US State Department for South and Central Asia. He will also hold private talks with US President Joe Biden and subsequently take part in a private engagement with the president and first lady.
During the Yoga Day event at the United Nation Headquarters in New York, UN General Assembly President Csaba Korosi, India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Kamboj and New York Mayor Eric Adams greeted and addressed the crowd, welcoming PM Narendra Modi.
Kamboj said:
"Today's celebration is, indeed, very special as PM Modi will lead us in doing yoga here. It is under his leadership that June 21 was declared International Yoga Day. It is only fitting that the inspiration behind the idea is with us today in the scenic multicultural setting of the UN."
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