America
Yoga Day a platform to unite world: Sushma at UN
United Nations, June 21
The International Day
of Yoga was a perfect platform to bring the world together in a spirit
of unity and harmony, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said here
on Sunday.
Addressing the International Day of Yoga celebrations
at the world body, which was attended by UN Ban Ki-moon, Sushma Swaraj
thanked the 192 other members of the UN for their support which allowed
the India resolution declaring June 21 as the International Day of Yoga
to be adopted by consensus.
"In a world increasingly divided by
what the great poet Rabindranath Tagore called 'narrow domestic walls',
Prime Minister Modi had a vision of India's ancient treasure that would
do the opposite - that would, through the notion of holistic health, and
a conscious search for the self, seek to bring us all together.
"Yoga
literally means to join, to unite, and we see the International Day of
Yoga as the perfect platform to bring the world together in a spirit of
unity and harmony," she said.
Sushma Swaraj said yoga was not a religion and should not be seen as belonging to any particular religion.
"It
is a science, the science of well-being, the science of integrating
body, mind and soul, the science of actualising our true potential."
She said tens of thousands of New Yorkers performed yoga at Times Square.
"Millions
of others all across the world in 192 nations joined them in their own
unique national celebrations of this historic day.
"By
celebrating the International Day of Yoga together, we celebrate our
common humanity. We are recognising that we have shared opportunities.
We are also acknowledging our sense of a shared global fate," she said.
By
celebrating the International Day of Yoga at the UN, she said, "I
believe we send a powerful message about men and women living in harmony
with each other and also in harmony with nature".
She expressed
confidence that yoga can become "a potent tool for the UN to promote the
message of brotherhood and amity in the finest Indian tradition of
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. The entire world is one family, and we can unite
it with yoga."