New York:The Yoga Day event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday created a Guinness World Record for witnessing the participation of most nationalities in a Yoga session, officials said.
PM Modi, who is here on the first leg of his maiden state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, addressed a historic event at the UN Headquarters to commemorate the 9th International Day of Yoga, attended by top UN officials, diplomats and prominent personalities.
The Yoga Day event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the UN Headquarters in New York has seen participation from the President of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Korosi, actor Richard Gere and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Digital evangelist Vala Afshar, award-winning storyteller Jay Shetty, Indian chef and restaurateur Vikas Khanna and Grammy award winner Ricky Kej were the other participants.
The function was attended by personalities and influencers from all walks of life including diplomats, officials, academicians, health professionals, technocrats, industry leaders, media personalities, artists, spiritual leaders, and yoga practitioners, among others. People from more than 180 countries will be joining the PM for the Yoga Day programme.
The prime minister, wearing a customised white yoga T-shirt and trouser, thanked people for coming here from far away to attend the celebration.
"I'm delighted to see you all. And I thank you all for coming. Friends. I'm told that almost every nationality is represented here today," Modi told the gathering. He was joined by President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly Csaba Korisi, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Earlier, Modi reminded the world that yoga, which is a very old tradition, originated in India and it 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," PM Modi said at the Yoga Day event in the UN HQ in New York. He further said, "Last year, the entire world came together to support India's proposal to celebrate 2023 as the International Year of Millets...It is wonderful to see the entire world come together again for Yoga."We've gathered here at the meeting point of the 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," he added.
