Practicing yoga with thousands of Jabalpurians at Garrison Ground, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar proudly mentioned that with India’s efforts, Yoga Day has become a world festival. Despite being an integral part of Indian culture, yoga is accepted worldwide for welfare of entire humanity. Vice-President Dhankhar joined national programme of 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations in Jabalpur on Wednesday. Dhankhar noted that yoga ensures unity of body, mind and soul and this ancient science not just focuses on welfare of individuals, but also the well-being of entire humanity. In this context, he made reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement, underlining Yoga as ‘Zero-budget health assurance’.

 

He further emphasised that yoga is not for a single special day or occasion, but one that should be an integral aspect of people’s daily lives. Referring to the theme of this year’s International Day of Yoga- ‘Yoga for Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’- the Vice-President drew attention to consonance of this theme with that of India’s G20 Presidency, which is ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

 

The essence of both is a reflection of India’s commitment to unite countries and amplify the message of global peace and friendship, he said. Lauding the leadership role played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in proposing to mark June 21 as the International Day of Yoga, he underscored the significance of the fact that the proposal was adopted almost unanimously by 193 countries in the shortest ever time. Highlighting that yoga has been an inalienable facet of India’s cultural and civilizational ethos, the Vice-President recognised its key role in facilitating the progress of the nation and expressed his appreciation for energy and enthusiasm with which countries across the world have been participating in the celebration. Governor Mangubhai Patel, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister for AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal, Padma Bhushan recipient and President, Ram Chandra Mission, ‘Daaji’ Kamlesh Patel, Members of Parliament and other dignitaries were also present.