President Ram Nath Kovind performed yoga along with his Surinamese counterpart Desire Delano Boutersel while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj joined the celebrations at the European Parliament as yoga practitioners across the world on Thursday performed ‘asanas’ to mark the fourth International Day of Yoga.
President Kovind, who is in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo on the second leg of his three-nation tour, and Boutersel wearing round neck T-shirts joined dozens of yoga practitioners in this latin American country to perform the asanas.
“Extremely happy tohave participated in #InternationalYogaDay celebrations — 14,000 kms away from India — at Paramaribo with President Bouterse of Suriname. I thank all the yogis who joined us and made this event truly memorable,” President Kovind told the gathering. This was the first time that heads of two countries together participated in the International Day of Yoga.
In Brussels, Swaraj joined the yoga day celebrations at the Yehudi Menuhin Space in the European Parliament.
In Pakistan, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad celebrated the yoga day as a festival of health and well-being. Over 100 members of the diplomatic community and Pakistani citizens from different walks of life joined the guided yoga and meditation sessions at the mission. The yoga day celebrations were also held in different cities of Pakistan, including Karachi and lahore.
In Nepal, a special mass yoga demonstration was held in the premises of Nepal Police Training Academy in capital Kathmandu which was attended by hundreds of people despite rain since early morning.
A massive yoga session was held at the holy premises of Janaki temple in Janakpur where Governor Ratneshwar lal Kayastha and Chief Minister lalbabu Raut attended the event.
In China, Indian envoy Gautam Bambawale along with other diplomats, staff of the Embassy, yoga teachers and students of a yoga centre participated in a colourful yoga event in Beijing. Over 500 yoga lovers turned up to take part in over hour-long special yoga workout at the old Indian Embassy premises.
In Bangladesh, around 10,000 people attended the ancient Indian discipline at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka. UN ambassadors, diplomats, spiritual leaders, members of civil society and children participated in a flagship Yoga Day event organised by India’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
The UK marked the International Day of Yoga with a series of yoga sessions attended by members of the Indian diaspora and the wider public.
The day began with a yoga session at the Indian High Commission in london, followed by a special event in the UK Parliament complex.