UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Praising yoga as “a way of life,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck poses ranging from cobra to corpse with a multinational crowd Wednesday at UN headquarters as he kicked off the public part of his visit to the United States.
With a checkerboard of Indian-made yoga mats littering the UN’s spacious north lawn, Modi stopped and bowed before a statue of slain Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi before saying in brief remarks that yoga was a handy portable for all ages accessible to all. all religions and cultures.
“It is a very old tradition, but like all ancient Indian traditions, it is also alive and dynamic,” Modi said. “Yoga is truly universal.”
While yoga is a means to physical fitness, mental calm, and emotional fulfillment, “it’s not just about working out on a mat. Yoga is a way of life,” said the one-year-old leader of the world’s most populous nation.
For Modi, who arrived in New York on Tuesday on a trip that will offer plenty of time to discuss global tensions, highlighting a longstanding quest for inner tranquility was a wise and symbolic choice. has done yoga a personal practice and diplomatic tool.
Taking his place on a mat amid the crowd of a thousand or more, Modi, 72, engaged for the next 35 minutes in breathing exercises, meditation, backbends and other poses, from palm tree to diamond, hare to half camel. , crocodile to stretched frog.
The event honored International Yoga Day, which Modi convinced the UN to designate in 2014 as an annual celebration. This year’s version set a Guinness World Record, announced onstage, for most nationalities (135) in one yoga lesson. It drew actor Richard Gere, singer and actress Mary Millben, New York Mayor Eric Adams, UN General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi and Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed, among other dignitaries. Secretary General António Guterres, who is at a conference in Paris, sent a video greeting.
Shouts from protesters across the street could be heard during meditative utterances of “Om.” About 200 Modi supporters and 50 critics demonstrated, separated by barriers and closely watched by the New York police.
The pro-Modi group greeted him loudly and held up banners with messages such as “America welcomes Narendra Modi” and “United we stand,” accompanied by a photo of the American flag. The opponents shouted: “Modi, come back!” and waved large yellow flags in allusion to Khalistan, the name of the homeland that Sikh separatists seek to create in India.
First practiced by Hindu sages, yoga has become one of India’s most popular cultural exports. Modi has vigorously promoted it as a nice way to extend the country’s influence abroad.
Modi, a Hindu nationalist, presents himself as an ascetic who adheres to his religion’s restrictions on vegetarianism and yoga. He has posted videos on social media over the years of himself practicing yoga poses and provided live footage of himself meditating in a Himalayan mountain cave after the 2019 national election.
Modi last visited the UN during the 2021 General Assembly, where he said “all sorts of questions have been raised” about the world body’s effectiveness on issues including climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and terrorism.
He also stressed rethinking his country’s place on the world stage, noting that “one in six people in the world is Indian.” Since then India has overtaken china claim the world’s largest population, at 1.425 million, and is the world’s largest democracy.
India has long sought a permanent seat on the Security Council, the UN’s most powerful group. India has been elected to a two-year post multiple times, most recently for 2021-22.
The prime minister flew to Washington on Wednesday afternoon and joined first lady Jill Biden to visit the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia. President Joe Biden and the first lady were set to host Modi at a private White House dinner.
“With this official visit we are bringing together the oldest and largest democracies in the world. But our relationship is not just about governance,” said Jill Biden. “We are celebrating the families and friendships that span the globe. Those who build the ties of both, of our two countries”.
Modi spoke about the emphasis that India has placed on education, integrating learning and training. “Our goal is to make this decade a ‘tech-ade’ or ‘tech-ade’,” the prime minister said, speaking in Hindi.
Modi will hold formal talks with Biden at the oval office on Thursday, answer reporters’ questions, address a joint meeting of Congress, and be honored with a state dinner at the White House. A State Department luncheon will be hosted by Vice President Kamala Harris, whose mother was born in India, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The United States has been looking to India as a key partner on issues including checking China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. India wants to strengthen military and trade connections with the United States.
Human rights advocates want Biden to pressure Modi on human rights issues, both international and within India. Modi has faced criticism for legislation that accelerates citizenship for some immigrants but excludes Muslims; arise in violence against Muslims and other religious minorities by Hindu nationalists; and the recent conviction of the main Indian opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, for mocking Modi’s surname(Gandhi recently visited the United States himself, speaking to journalists, university students and a group from the Indian diaspora).
A group of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Biden this week asking him to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, media and political freedoms when he meets Modi. Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota have said they will boycott Modi’s speech to Congress.
The Indian government defends its record and insists that the nation’s democratic principles remain rock-solid.
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Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer and Ted Shaffrey at the United Nations, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi, and Darlene Superville, Fatima Hussein and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.