NEW DELHI : Government today described the United Nations declaration of June 21 as International Day of Yoga on the intiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a very major diplomatic win for India.
Making a suo motu statement in both Houses of Parliament, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, “The sheer number of supporters as well as the smooth adoption also symbolises the strong international support that the recent diplomatic endeavours of our government have evoked on the world stage. I would term these as a critical part of a new India’s ‘breakthrough diplomacy’.”
She said on December 11, an unprecedented 177 out of the total 193 member states of the United Nations joined-in as ‘co-sponsors’ to the resolution for ‘International Yoga Day’. “In the history of the United Nations, this is the highest number of co-sponsors ever for any Resolution of this nature.
“‘Co-sponsorship’, quite simply, meant that these countries not just supported India, but expressed their public willingness to own the initiative as well!” Ms Swaraj added.
Ms Swaraj said, “The list of co-sponsors was wide all encompassing and a triumph of Indian diplomacy from the P-5 to the Small Island States of the Pacific (with whom the Prime Minister interacted during his recent visit to Fiji); from the heart of Africa to nearly the whole of Europe; from most of our South Asian neighbours to our distant friends in the Caribbean and Latin America, all in one voice stood up in our support.”
The Minister said this outpouring of support and whole hearted embrace by the international community for the International Yoga Day signifies how India’s age-old traditions are in harmony with what the world needs today. Yoga, as the Prime Minister so aptly said in New York, embodies the centuries-old Indian message of harmony between man and nature, she said.
Ms Swaraj said the ‘International Yoga Day’ is a rich accomplishment of the government’s unwavering commitment to global diplomatic engagement.
“I assure my fellow Parliamentarians that we will continue to exhibit the same unflagging resolve to engage with the world in the days ahead,” she said. The government was thinking and acting on new measures to project India’s soft power — the unparalleled cultural richness, diversity and uniqueness of India and its people, the Minister said.
(AGENCIES)
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