Minutes before the mega event commenced at Rajpath, the Prime Minister tweeted, "Greetings to people around the world on first International Day of Yoga! "Lets pledge to make yoga an integral part of our daily lives," he said.
In another tweet, he said in some parts of the world, the first rays of the sun have already been welcomed by people practising yoga. This will continue across the world.
"I will join the yoga day programme at Rajpath in a short while," Modi said.
Diplomats from 152 foreign missions have been invited to take part in the event which will start at 7 am to 7.35 am.