Yoga could be an antidote to terror: Sushma Swaraj at UN

NEW DELHI: India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday to participate in the first International Yoga Day event organised by the UN headquarters in New York and emphasised that “yoga is neither a religion nor it should be seen belonging to any religion”.

As millions celebrated the Day across 192 countries organised by India's diplomatic missions Swaraj noted that “a time when ethnic conflicts and extremist violence are threatening to destabilize society, Yoga can serve as a perfect antidote.”

“In a world increasingly divided by what the great poet Rabindranath Tagore called “narrow domestic walls...PM Modi had a vision of India’s ancient treasure that would do the opposite,” averred Swaraj as yoga was also celebrated with great enthusiasm at Times Square and across the USA.

Yoga is science of well-being, claimed Swaraj. 177 UN member states last year had adopted resolution to celebrate June 21 as International Yoga Day.

While Yoga was celebrated across Muslim countries after Iftar, In Taipei, more than 2,000 participants rolled out mats and performed 108 rounds of the “sun salutation”.