PM Modi Leads 10th International Yoga Day Celebration in Srinagar

Srinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the 10th International Yoga Day event in Srinagar on Friday.

Addressing the gathering, he said, yoga has helped people realise that their welfare is linked to the welfare of the world around them.

Addressing a gathering at the 10th International Yoga Day event at the SKICC in Srinagar, the prime minister said, “The world is looking at yoga as a powerful agent of global good. Yoga helps us live in the present moment without the baggage of the past.”

The event was scheduled to be held on the lawns of the SKICC on the banks of the Dal Lake but had to be shifted indoors due to incessant rain.

The prime minister said,”The number of yoga followers is growing continuously. Wherever I go, there is hardly any (international) leader who does not talk to me about the benefits of yoga.

He cited the examples of Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, and Germany, where yoga was fast becoming popular.

He also mentioned about 101-year-old Frenchwoman Charlotte Chopin who was awarded a Padma Shri for her services in popularising yoga in her country.

Modi said, “We are now seeing yoga tourism in states like Uttarakhand and Kerala. People are coming to India because they get to see authentic yoga.

“People are now hiring personal yoga trainers for fitness, and companies are including yoga in mind and body (fitness) programmes for their employees. It has opened new avenues of livelihood,” he said.

“Yoga helps the mind to focus. That is why from army to sports, yoga has been included in their routine,” he said.

The prime minister said astronauts and people working on space projects are also trained in yoga as it increases “productivity as well as tolerance”.

“In many prisons, the inmates are also taught yoga so that they can think positively,” he added.