Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Yoga is gaining acceptance across the world and credited Indian initiatives for the spread of the practice, while highlighting the country's wider effort to promote Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine. He made the remarks at the Prashanti Kutiram event in Bengaluru, Karnataka, which marked the Golden Jubilee of the Yoga and research centre run by S-VYASA.
Modi said several countries now treat Yoga as a sport, and noted that Saudi Arabia has signed an AYUSH cooperation pact with India. He said Yoga is reaching schools and workplaces abroad, and pointed to interest from the Qatar royal family in the practice. Some foreign practitioners have been honoured with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award. Within India, Yoga has been recognised as a competitive sport and included in Khelo India and the National Games. International Yoga Day has been observed around the world since its launch, and the event in Bengaluru drew attention to how far the practice has travelled from its origins in the country.
On Ayurveda, Modi said more than 150 Ayurveda courses have been recognised abroad. India has signed memorandums of understanding with 28 countries on the sector, and the government created a separate AYUSH Ministry to oversee it. Research and patents in the field have been encouraged, and AYUSH and herbal exports are rising. The sector is valued in lakh crore rupees, a figure Modi cited to underline its economic weight as well as its health role.
Modi also referred to the National Turmeric Board, set up to boost turmeric production and exports. He said the e-AYUSH visa has made it easier for foreign patients to seek treatment in India, and noted that the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is located in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Together, these steps show how the government has linked traditional medicine to healthcare access, research, agriculture and trade.
At the Bengaluru event, Modi digitally laid the foundation stone of the administrative block being built for the Golden Jubilee. The programme also paid tribute to H V Seshadri on his birth centenary, and an off-campus centre of S-VYASA was launched at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, extending the institution's reach beyond Karnataka. Modi tied the theme of the day to broader development, citing a World Bank report that about 50 crore people have been lifted out of extreme poverty. He described Yoga as a zero-cost healthcare option, a framing he used to link personal wellbeing with national policy.
Source: greaterkashmir.com
4
