The 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has adopted and declared June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.
The idea for declaring an International Day of Yoga at the United Nations was formally proposed by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visited New York for this year's UNGA.
The adoption of draft Resolution A/69/L.17 was effected after a record 175 countries co-sponsored it. It was adopted by acclamation, a UNGA press release said.
"We need to change our lifestyles. Energy not consumed is the cleanest energy. We can achieve the same level of development, prosperity and well being without necessarily going down the path of reckless consumption. It doesn't mean that economies will suffer; it will mean that our economies will take on a different character. For us in India, respect for nature is an integral part of spiritualism," said Prime Minister Modi when calling for establishing an International Day of Yoga during his maiden address to the 69th UNGA on September 27, 2014.
"We treat nature's bounties as sacred. Yoga is an invaluable gift of our ancient tradition. Yoga embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfillment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well being. It is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and the nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day," he added.
Prime Minister Modi had also then indicated that 21st June, one of the two solstices, which is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, has special significance in many parts of the world, and could be considered for adoption as the International Day of Yoga by the United Nations each year.
In order to implement his initiative, the Permanent Mission of India in New York convened three rounds of informal consultations with all 193 member states of the United Nations.
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A final text of the resolution, on which all the participating countries agreed, was reached on October 22, 2014.
Following this, the proposed resolution was circulated by the UN Secretariat as a 'L' Document with 130 co-sponsors on November 7, 2014. Subsequently, till December 5, 2014, another 45 member states joined as co-sponsors, bringing the number to 175 out of the 193 member states of the United Nations.
It is for the first time that such an initiative has been proposed and implemented by any country in the UN General Assembly in less than 90 days.
Co-sponsors of the proposal included all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, nearly all members from the African continent, Latin America, Europe, most from Asia, the Caribbean Community, and most of the Small Island Developing States including the Pacific island states, who interacted with Prime Minister Modi at the recent First Meeting of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation.
Both the President of the 69th UN General Assembly Sam Kutesa and UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon issued congratulatory statements on the adoption of the resolution in the General Assembly, thus reflecting the convergence of views of the leaders of two of the major organs of the United Nations system, the General Assembly and the Secretariat.
Introducing the resolution, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji, thanked every member state for co-sponsoring the Indian Prime Minister's initiative.
The main significance of the UN declaring an International Day is to focus the attention of the international community on the topic of the day, and to encourage activities among the member states of the United Nations to commemorate the day.