Australia welcomes International Yoga Day event

Welcoming the upcoming International Yoga Day on June 21, Australia's High Commissioner Patrick Suckling on Friday said the event was an "affirmation of universal acceptance of Yoga as a practice for mental and physical well-being".

"The celebration is also a success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's belief in Yoga," an Australian High Commission release here quoted Suckling as saying.

The statement said that along with India and the rest of the world, Australia too will celebrate the day.

"In Melbourne, Yoga Australia will host along with the Indian Consulate the 8th Annual International Yoga Conference on the theme 'Yoga for Health - Physical, Mental, Social and Spiritual'," the release said.

During his visit to Australia in November 2014, Modi presented a book on Yoga to Australian Premier Tony Abbott. Modi said he was aware that Yoga was "enormously popular" in Australia, the statement recalled.

Making a call on September 27, 2014, at the UN General Assembly on Yoga, Modi said: "Yoga embodies unity of mind and body, thought and action, restraint and fulfilment, harmony between man and nature, a holistic approach to health and well-being."

"The fact that the UN General Assembly resolution on the commemoration of International Yoga Day was co-sponsored by 177 member-nations and did not have to be voted upon, is testament to the universal recognition of the benefits of Yoga in the context of health challenges of the 21st century," Suckling said.