Modi calls for ‘one earth, one family, one future’ at UN yoga event

UNITED NATIONS - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a celebration of International Yoga Day at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday and called on people “to join hands together to realise the goal of one earth, one family, one future”.

The UN in 2014 declared June 21 the International Day of Yoga, adopting a measure proposed by Mr Modi.

“Let us use the power of yoga, not only to be healthy, happy, but also to be kind to ourselves and to each other,” Mr Modi told a gathering of yoga devotees seated on yellow mats on the north lawn of UN headquarters by New York’s East River.

“Let us use the power of yoga to build bridges of friendship, a peaceful world, and a cleaner, greener and sustainable future,” he said.

Mr Modi

is in the United States for talks with President Joe Biden

that the White House sees as bolstering “one of the defining partnerships of our age”.

Mr Modi has been to the US five times since becoming prime minister in 2014, but the trip will be

his first with the full diplomatic status of a state visit

despite concerns over what is seen as a deteriorating human rights situation under his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr Modi is to head from New York to Washington for a private dinner with Mr Biden on Wednesday evening, followed by talks at the White House and a state dinner on Thursday.

Before taking to the stage to speak on Wednesday, Mr Modi paid his respects before a bust of

Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi

in the UN grounds.

Gandhi, who was born in 1869, played a key role in India’s fight for independence. He was assassinated by a Hindu radical on Jan 30, 1948, just a few months after he led India to freedom from British rule through a non-violent struggle.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered a video message to the yoga event, saying he wanted to “recognise Prime Minister Modi for all he has done to promote understanding of yoga and its many benefits”. REUTERS