'Pause button humanity needs': PM Modi hails Yoga's global reach, calls it a tool for peace and unity

Reflecting on yoga’s journey over the past decade, he recalled how India’s resolution to declare June 21 as International Yoga Day was adopted at the United Nations with the support of 175 countries.

Yoga is the pause button that humanity needs to breathe, balance, and become whole again, stated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the early hours of Saturday, as he led the 11th International Day of Yoga celebrations in the coastal town of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

The Prime Minister said that in a world increasingly marked by “tension, unrest, and instability,” yoga offers a vital path toward peace.

“Yoga gives us the direction of peace,” he added, underscoring its relevance in today’s global climate.

Joining him at the event were Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who participated in the mass yoga session alongside hundreds of citizens.

Further highlighting yoga’s power to foster unity, PM Modi said, “Yoga is a wonderful system that takes us from ‘me’ to ‘we’,” and urged the international community to embrace “Yoga for Humanity 2.0”, a renewed global movement where inner peace becomes central to public life and policy.

"This year’s theme, ‘Yoga for One Earth, One Health’, reflects the essential interconnectedness of all living beings and the environment," he noted.

“Human well-being depends on the health of the soil that grows our food, the rivers that give us water, the animals that share our ecosystems, and the plants that nourish us,” the Prime Minister said. “Yoga awakens us to this interconnectedness.”

Furthermore, PM Modi expressed pride in yoga’s growing global reach.

“Our Divyang friends study Yoga Shastras in Braille, scientists practice yoga in space, children in villages compete in Yoga Olympiads,” he said, adding that yoga is being performed across diverse locations, from Navy ships and mountain peaks to global landmarks like the Sydney Opera House.

Reflecting on yoga’s journey over the past decade, he recalled how India’s resolution to declare June 21 as International Yoga Day was adopted at the United Nations with the support of 175 countries. “Such unity is not common in today’s world....it speaks to yoga’s universal appeal,” he said.

PM Modi extended greetings to people worldwide, stating, “Today, the entire world is performing yoga. It is heartening to see how yoga has united people across countries, cultures, and communities.”