President Murmu Calls Yoga India's Gift to World on International Day of Yoga

President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday described yoga as India's greatest gift to the world, saying the ancient discipline offers guidance and stability to humanity at a time of rising global uncertainty. Her remarks, delivered on the occasion of the International Day of Yoga, echoed India's consistent effort to position the practice as a universal cultural contribution.

Across the world, yoga events marked the day with particular vigour. In Shanghai, celebrations concluded with a gathering on the iconic Bund waterfront, with this year's theme focusing on healthy ageing — a message directed at an increasingly elderly global population grappling with lifestyle diseases.

The International Day of Yoga has been observed every June 21 since 2015, following India's successful push at the United Nations the previous year to have it formally recognised. The initiative, championed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saw the UN adopt the resolution with a record number of co-sponsors, reflecting the breadth of international support.

For India, the annual celebrations serve a dual purpose: reinforcing the country's soft power credentials on the world stage and promoting a homegrown wellness tradition that has found tens of millions of practitioners globally. President Murmu's framing of yoga as a civilisational offering underlines New Delhi's continued investment in cultural diplomacy as a foreign policy tool.