Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday termed yoga a “ray of hope” and a source of strength in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
He was addressing a programme to mark the 7th International Yoga Day where he also announced the launch of the M-Yoga application, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The app will have videos of yoga training based on a Common Yoga Protocol and will be available in different languages.
“This will help us in making the ‘One World, One Health’ motto successful,” he said.
“At a time when the whole world is fighting the coronavirus pandemic, yoga remains a ray of hope,” Modi said.
The prime minister noted that there may not have been any major public events in countries around the world and in India for around a year and a half, but the enthusiasm for Yoga Day has not diminished.
For most of the countries of the world, Yoga Day is not their age-old cultural festival and in this difficult time, people could have forgotten about it and ignored it, but on the contrary, people’s enthusiasm for yoga has increased, he said.
“When the unseen coronavirus knocked on the doors of the world, no country was prepared for it in terms of resources, capability and mental state.
We all have seen that in such difficult times, yoga has become a great source of inner strength,” he said.
“The ‘Yoga For Wellness’ theme this year has encouraged people even more to perform yoga. I pray that every country, region, and people, stays healthy,” he said, adding that the pandemic has not dampened the enthusiasm for yoga worldwide.
The Prime Minister stressed on the need to reach yoga to every corner of the world and the need for fusion of modern technology and ancient scientific knowledge like yoga. Yoga will play a preventive and positive role in healthcare for masses, Modi said.
In December 2014, India introduced the draft resolution in the United Nations General Assembly to mark June 21 as International Day of Yoga. It received widespread support, with 177 nations co-sponsoring the resolution.
