Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, on a three-day go to to the USA, kicked off a bunch yoga session for worldwide diplomats on the garden of the United Nations in Manhattan on Wednesday morning, stressing the nondenominational side of the follow that has roots in Hindu spirituality.

“I’m advised that nearly each nationality is represented right here immediately, and what an incredible trigger to convey us all collectively — yoga,” Mr. Modi mentioned. “Yoga means to unite.”

After his remarks, the prime minister joined the group for stretching workouts. He intends to journey to Washington afterward Wednesday for a state dinner with President Biden the subsequent day.

Mr. Modi’s give attention to inclusivity on the United Nations stood in distinction to his political posture at residence: Mr. Modi’s Hindu nationalist insurance policies over his greater than eight years in workplace, critics say, have undercut India’s non secular minorities and his authorities has cracked down on dissent. India has a inhabitants of 1.4 billion individuals, together with about 200 million Muslims.

Over the previous a number of years, Mr. Modi’s authorities has set off protests for insurance policies that seem to privilege non-Muslims, together with, for instance, a fast-track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh and another Muslim-majority nations.

On Wednesday, earlier than the yoga session, Mr. Modi bowed to a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, in accordance with experiences, a pacesetter whose credos of spiritual tolerance and secularism had been foundational to the nation Mr. Modi now runs.

The occasion, additionally attended by Mayor Eric Adams of New York, was in celebration of Worldwide Yoga Day, June 21, an occasion Mr. Modi efficiently lobbied the U.N. to commemorate almost a decade in the past. The prime minister has used yoga to attempt to endear himself to each the worldwide group and the Hindu voters with whom he stays broadly common, tweeting movies of his downward canine and warrior poses. The Indian navy has additionally broadcast its troopers practising yoga.

“Yoga comes from India, and it’s a very outdated custom, however like all historic Indian traditions, additionally it is residing and dynamic,” the prime minister mentioned to the group seated cross-legged on yellow yoga mats earlier than a backdrop of the East River.

“Yoga is unifying. It’s for everybody: for all ethnicities, for all faiths and for all cultures,” Mr. Modi mentioned. “Yoga is actually common.”