Yoga has become a source of India’s soft power, with the government making a massive push to popularise this centuries-old practice.
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart his visit to the United States with a group yoga session on Wednesday (Jun 21).
He will be leading International Yoga Day celebrations at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York, before heading to Washington DC for talks.
The UN adopted June 21 as the day to celebrate yoga in 2015, a year after Mr Modi had proposed it in his speech to the UN General Assembly.
Yoga has become a source of India’s soft power, with the government making a massive push to popularise the centuries-old practice.
Analysts said it is a clever move which carefully projects India’s image as a reliable and friendly nation.
Carnegie India associate fellow Konark Bhandari said the country is promoting itself as a global power that is non-confrontational.
“I think yoga plays into that overall image of a country as a responsible and benevolent power,” he added.
As India walks a diplomatic tightrope between the West and Russia during the war in Ukraine, it is on subjects such as yoga that the country hopes for undivided support from the international community, said analysts.
This is despite some critics claiming that Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is using yoga as a means to a political goal.
“Today, yoga is becoming an established practice worldwide. It is an ancient Indian practice through which we learn how to control our body, mind and emotions. Today, a lot of people in the world are practising it,” said yoga instructor CS Sudhir Jain.
“It’s a sign of unity. In a way, it seeks to unite the world through the message that we need to work together to make the world a better place. And today, the world is practising yoga in a united way because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
For many of Mr Modi’s supporters, it is important that he is popularising a piece of India’s cultural heritage, said observers, adding that it is a sign the country is finally getting rid of its colonial vestiges and Western traditions.
Today, yoga has become a celebration of India’s cultural pride.
According to official figures, some 220 million people participated in events organised by the government on the International Day of Yoga last year.
It claims that yoga promotion initiatives by the Ayush Ministry, which was set up in 2014 to promote traditional medicinal practices, reached more than 1.2 billion people around the world.
“Our great sages and saints used to be yoga teachers. But over time, we lost this ancient practice,” said yoga practitioner Sunita Kumar.
“Now, new teachers are resurrecting yoga and Modi is making sure that it reaches every household. So now that people everywhere are practising yoga and becoming healthier, it fills me with great joy and pride.”