June 20, 2023 at 9:17 PM | Updated: June 21, 2023, 6:00 pm
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Hailing yoga as “a way of life,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck poses ranging from cobra to corpse before a multinational crowd Wednesday at U. N. headquarters as he presented his public part to the United States.
With a chessboard of Indian-made yoga mats covering the vast northern lawn of the UN, Modi stopped and bowed before a statue of slain Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi before saying in brief remarks that yoga is a portable practice for all ages. Accessible to all religions and cultures.
“It’s a very old tradition, but like all ancient Indian traditions, it’s also alive and vibrant,” Modi said. “Yoga is, in fact, universal. “
While yoga is a way to physically reinforce, calm down mentally, and gain emotional satisfaction, “it’s simply about exercising 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 for an event that will offer plenty of time to talk about global tensions, highlighting a long-standing search for inner tranquility was a sensible and symbolic choice. He has made yoga a non-public practice and a diplomatic tool.
Taking his position on a mat in the midst of a thousand or more people, Modi, 72, engaged for the next 35 minutes in breathing exercises, meditation, push-ups and other poses, from palm to diamond, hare to half camel, crocodile. with elongated frog.
The occasion marked International Yoga Day, which Modi persuaded the UN to designate 2014 as an annual celebration. This year’s edition set a Guinness World Record, announced on stage, for the maximum number of nationalities – 135 – a yoga lesson. It has attracted actors Richard Gere, singer and actress Mary Millben, New York Mayor Eric Adams, UN General Assembly President Csaba Kőrösi and Assistant Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, among other dignitaries. Secretary-General António Guterres, who is attending a convention in Paris, sent a video message.
The screams of protesters across the street can be heard only as the meditative lyrics of “Om. “About two hundred Modi supporters and 50 critics gathered, separated by barriers and heavily monitored by the NYPD.
The pro-Modi organization shouted greetings and held banners with messages such as “America welcomes Narendra Modi” and “United, we are standing,” accompanied by a photo of the American flag. Opponents shouted: “Modi, back down!” and waved giant yellow flags alluding to Khalistan, the call of Sikh separatists seeking to create in India.
First practiced by Hindu sages, yoga has one of India’s major popular cultural exports. Modi has vigorously promoted it as a fun way to expand 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. Over the years, he has posted videos on social media of himself practicing yoga poses and provided footage of him meditating in a Himalayan mountain cave after the 2019 national election.
Modi last visited the UN at the 2021 General Assembly, where he said “all sorts of questions have been raised” about the world body’s effectiveness on issues such as climate change, the coronavirus pandemic and terrorism.
He also expressed his country’s position on the world stage, noting that “one in six people in the world is Indian. ” India has since surpassed China to 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 toughest group. India has been elected several times for a two-year term, most recently for 2021-22.
The prime minister flew to Washington later Wednesday afternoon and joined the first child, Jill Biden, to attend the National Science Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia. President Joe Biden also hosted Modi at the White House for dinner, adding pasta and ice cream, and a musical. tribute to the regions of India performed through young dancers from Studio Dhoom from the Washington, DC area.
“With this official visit, we are bringing together the oldest and largest democracies in the world. But our dating is just about governance,” Biden told the National Science Foundation. “We celebrate families and friendships that cross the globe. “
At the White House, the Bidens presented Modi, an amateur photographer, with a galley of antique homemade American e-books from the early twentieth century as an official gift to commemorate the visit. The president also presented Modi with an antique American camera, accompanied by an archival facsimile of George Eastman’s patent for Kodak’s first camera and a hardcover e-book of American photography. The first girl gave Modi a signed copy of the first edition of “Collected Poems of Robert Frost”.
Modi spoke about India’s education, integration of learning and training. “Our purpose is to make this decade a ‘technological decade’ or a ‘technological breakthrough,'” the prime minister said, speaking in Hindi.
Modi will hold official talks with Biden in the Oval Office on Thursday, answer questions from reporters, face a joint congressional assembly and be revered 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.
EE. UU. ve India as a key partner in issues such as verifying China’s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. India needs military and trade relations with the US
Human rights advocates need Biden to lobby Modi on human rights issues, either around the world or in India. Modi has been criticized for his recent stopover in the US. Speaking to journalists, academics, and an Indian diaspora organization. )
An organization of more than 70 lawmakers wrote to Biden this week asking him to raise considerations about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms in his assembly with Modi. Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said they would boycott Modi’s speech to Congress.
The Indian government defends its record and insists the nation’s democratic principles are sound.
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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, Chris Megerian, Fatima Hussein and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.