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00:00 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is kicking off the second day of his state visit to the
00:04 U.S. with a group yoga session on the United Nations North Lawn.
00:08 Marking International Day of Yoga, Modi has energetically promoted the practice as a feel-good
00:14 way of stretching the country's influence abroad.
00:17 Later on Wednesday, he'll be heading to Washington where he'll meet Joe Biden and address a joint
00:22 session of Congress.
00:24 For more, we're joined in studio now by our International Affairs Editor Leela Jacinto.
00:29 Leela, good to have you with us in studio.
00:31 Talk to us firstly about International Yoga Day.
00:35 What is that all about?
00:36 Well, shortly after he was elected to office in 2014 for his first term, Narendra Modi
00:43 suggested that the world have a World Yoga Day in his address to the UN General Assembly.
00:49 And then the Indian mission to the UN submitted a draft text which was adopted by a resounding
00:55 177 countries.
00:56 I mean, who's against yoga?
01:00 And so now we have International Yoga Day.
01:04 This day has -- the first day was in 2015.
01:11 And what Modi has done, he has promoted yoga while at the same time promoting himself as
01:18 a sort of ascetic doing yoga.
01:20 He's frequently posting videos and images of himself in yoga poses, including in a Himalayan
01:27 cave, all of which adds to a personality cult that ties in very neatly with his message
01:34 of what India -- his vision of India, which is a robust sort of vision of India.
01:41 And it's a tremendous and interesting use of Indian soft power.
01:46 Now, by kicking off this visit to the U.S., which is a state visit, it is just the -- it's
01:52 the third state visit of the Biden presidency.
01:55 It's Modi's first state visit to India.
01:59 By kicking this off at the UN on International Yoga Day, it's a very effective diplomatic
02:07 tool of Indian soft power.
02:09 And in his address to the UN today at this session, you know, he talked about using the
02:14 power of yoga to build bridges of friendship, a peaceful world, a cleaner, greener world
02:20 with a sustainable future.
02:21 You know, I mean, yoga can encompass everything that you want.
02:25 And he also called for the practice of yoga to be used not just to be healthy and happy,
02:32 but to be kind to ourselves and to others.
02:34 And now, you know, critics say that Modi has appropriated this practice that is ancient,
02:39 that really has -- you know, there are no structures to it.
02:43 Yoga typically means a yoking of the spiritual and the mental, very good for health, which
02:49 is why it's very popular.
02:51 But the appropriation of this has, you know, has critics up in arms and also this messages
02:56 of being kind with others when critics say he is not particularly kind to those who disagree
03:01 with him.
03:02 Let's talk then about his visit to New York.
03:04 It's fair to say that not everybody in the Big Apple has been rolling out the red carpet.
03:08 No.
03:09 There are a number of protests outside the UN.
03:11 And in New York later today, there is a protest event called Howdy Democracy.
03:16 This is a play on the Howdy Modi event that he had in 2019 with Donald Trump, who was
03:22 then president.
03:24 The problem with India, critics say, is that it is an extremely important country.
03:29 And this visit shows that.
03:31 It is the world's fifth largest economy.
03:34 Trade with the India-U.S. trade has been growing.
03:38 India is also a member of the Quad with the U.S., Australia and Japan.
03:42 And so it's seen as a bulwark against China.
03:45 But critics say that the Biden administration is is is overlooking Modi's human rights track
03:51 record.
03:52 And this Howdy Democracy is trying to highlight, you know, the sort of illiberal democracy
03:57 or the electoral autocracy that is happening in India today, which is similar to what we
04:01 saw in Turkey, which is elections happen.
04:05 Critics can claim that it's a democracy, but it's not a level playing field at all.
04:09 Lila, thank you so much for that.
04:10 That's our international affairs editor, Lila Jacinto.