
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a yoga session at UN headquarters for the first time in New York.
June 21 marks the International Day of Yoga, during which Modi will be landing in the city as part of his four-day visit to the United States.
“On the occasion of the 9th International Day of Yoga, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations cordially invites you to join a Yoga session led by H. E. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,” an advisory for the event said, according to PTI news agency.
It was PM Modi who first proposed from the UN General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration.
This will be the first time that the Indian leader will lead the yoga session at the UN Headquarters in a historic commemoration of the day.
The one-hour session from8 amwill begin at the expansive North Lawn in the UN Headquarters, where a bust of Mahatma Gandhi—a gift from India to the UN—was installed in December last year during the country's presidency of the UN Security Council.
The historic yoga session is expected to be attended by top UN officials, ambassadors, envoys, delegates from member states as well as prominent members of the global and diaspora community.
“I am looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations @UN with Prime Minister @NarendraModi at the UNHQ North Lawn next week,” President of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly Csaba Korosi said in a tweet Thursday.
The tweet accompanies a photograph of Korosi with PM Modi.
The first International Day of Yoga was commemorated in 2015 and has since then been marked with several sessions and events highlighting the benefits and universal appeal of Yoga at the UN, Times Square and iconic locations across the world.
Prime Minister Modi is visiting the US from June 21 to June 24 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.
They will host PM Modi at a state dinner on June 22. The visit also includes an address to the Joint Session of the Congress on June 22.
Modi will then address an invitation-only gathering of diaspora leaders from across the country at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington on June 23.
(With inputs from agencies)
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