External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday lauded the success of the International Yoga Day, adding that barriers like caste and religion were broken to celebrate the worldwide event.
“I am very happy that international Yoga day was more successful than we had expected. United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly president Sam Kutesa participated in the event. Around 192 countries celebrated the Yoga Day,” Swaraj told ANI in an exclusive interview.
“We did not expect the yoga day to be celebrated with such enthusiasm across the world. Yoga, which was the treasure of India, on June 21
became the treasure of the world. Barriers like caste and religion were broken to celebrate international Yoga Day,” she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday inaugurated the celebrations of International Yoga Day in Delhi and dubbed it as the beginning of a
new era of peace and goodwill, thanking all those who have contributed to the development of the great discipline.
An estimated 40,000 people participated in the celebrations at Rajpath, with around two billion people taking part across the world.
The United Nations had declared June 21 as International Yoga Day in December 2014 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the same during his address to the United Nation General Assembly last year. (ANI)