Yoga Day evolved into global health movement, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that International Yoga Day (IYD) 2025 is being celebrated with the theme “Yoga for One Earth, One Health”, highlighting the interconnectedness of human and planetary health. The theme echoes the global vision of collective wellness, rooted in India’s philosophy of ‘Sarve Santu Niramaya’ (May all be free from disease).

Sitharaman attended the 11th International Day of Yoga 2025 celebrations at the Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) in Faridabad on Saturday.

She said that since its inception in 2015, when the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted India’s proposal to observe June 21 as IYD, the Prime Minister has led the celebrations from various locations including New Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mysuru, New York (UN Headquarters) and Srinagar. IYD has since evolved into a powerful global health movement.

The Union Minister said that this year, special contests such as Yoga with Family and youth-focused initiatives under Yoga Unplugged have been launched on platforms like MyGov and MyBharat, encouraging mass participation. The gathering at AJNIFM also witnessed the address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Visakhapatnam, followed by a yoga session led by practitioners from the Morarji Desai Yoga Institute. Participants enthusiastically practised yoga for over 45 minutes at AJNIFM, Faridabad. Senior officers and employees were also present on the occasion.

Also in Faridabad, the district-level 11th International Yoga Day celebration took place at the sports complex in Sector-12, where Union Minister of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal Gurjar was the chief guest.

Minister Gurjar said, while addressing the gathering, that “with determination and enthusiasm, our illustrious Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken International Yoga Day to new heights. International Yoga Day 2025 is being celebrated across the country and the world at an unprecedented scale.

“Youth should be trained as representatives of India in the world by imparting skills through yoga. For this, it is necessary to organise yoga training and make it based on global standards. The aim of the government is to spread yoga to every person from cities to villages, so that India can become healthy and strong,” said Gurjar.