Mukherjee thanks Belarus for endorsing India's UNSC bid, Yoga Day

President Pranab Mukerjee on Wednesday expressed "deep appreciation" for Belarus' endorsement of India's bid for a permanent UNSC seat and for supporting India's proposal to declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga.

In his address at a luncheon banquet hosted by Belarus President Alexander V. Lukashenko, Mukherjee, who arrived in the Belarusian capital on Tuesday night, also expressed confidence that following his visit and discussions, bilateral ties would rise to even greater heights.

He reiterated that India remains committed to a deeper and more diversified relationship with Belarus.

In his speech, the president said since the emergence of Belarus as an independent nation in 1991, India and Belarus have successfully developed their relationship based on friendship and mutual benefit and both share common approaches to international issues.

Cooperation between India and Belarus in the United Nations and other multilateral fora, including in the Non-Aligned Movement has been close and fruitful, he said, adding: "This should continue."

Earlier, in Uppsala University in Stockholm during his Sweden visit on Tuesday, Mukherjee delivered a public lecture on 'Tagore & Gandhi: Do they have Contemporary Relevance for Global Peace?'.

In his speech, the president said the ideas of truth, openness, dialogue and non-violence espoused by Tagore and Gandhi provide the best way forward for a world confronted with intolerance, bigotry and terrorism, and their values and their vision are more relevant today than any time before in a world desperately searching for permanent solutions to conflict and tensions.

These ideals therefore need to be propagated far and wide, especially amongst the youth, he said, according to a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement.

Mukherjee said India, with its population of 1.25 billion, has been home to the harmonious mingling of ethnicities and religions for centuries.

"We are clear that lasting peace can be built only on a foundation of mutual respect which was consistently and eloquently advocated by both Tagore and Gandhiji. Enduring peace can only be established on the basis of humanity's moral and intellectual solidarity. Political and economic agreements will not on their own build a lasting peace. Peace has to be founded on the belief that there is only one humanity," he said.