Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attended a yoga demonstration by Slovak schoolchildren alongside Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, highlighting yoga’s growing global appeal ahead of International Yoga Day.
Sharing his thoughts on X, PM Modi said it was encouraging to see young people embracing yoga and described it as a powerful tool for promoting well-being and bringing people together.
“President Pellegrini and I were delighted to witness a special Yoga demonstration by schoolchildren from Slovakia. As the world counts down to International Yoga Day, it is delightful to see the youth embrace Yoga. Also happy to see Yoga continuing to bring people together in the shared pursuit of well-being,” the Prime Minister said.
During his visit, Modi also praised a Varanasi-themed exhibition at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava, saying art and culture play an important role in strengthening people-to-people ties.
In a separate post on X, he said, “A Banaras connect in Bratislava! At the Presidential Palace in Bratislava yesterday, President Pellegrini and I viewed a fascinating exhibition centred on Varanasi, including works by Slovak artists who had recently visited the city. Art and culture truly have a unique ability to bring people closer. My compliments to all those whose works featured in this exhibition.”
The Prime Minister also held discussions with President Pellegrini on a range of bilateral issues, including manufacturing, transport, innovation, investment, energy and biofuels.
“Today’s talks with President Pellegrini covered diverse subjects such as closer ties in manufacturing, transport, innovation and investment linkages, energy, biofuels and more. There is also immense scope to cooperate in the field of digital technology. We also talked about deepening people-to-people linkages,” PM Modi said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico reaffirmed their commitment to multilateralism, reform of global institutions and enhanced cooperation with regional groupings, according to the India-Slovakia Joint Statement issued on Monday.
The two leaders stressed the need for comprehensive reforms of multilateral institutions, particularly the United Nations and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to make them more representative, inclusive, effective and reflective of contemporary geopolitical realities. They also underscored the need to expand the UNSC in both permanent and non-permanent categories.
The joint statement further said that India and Slovakia agreed to deepen cooperation in defence, cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection and connectivity, identifying these sectors as key pillars of the growing bilateral partnership.
(With inputs from ANI)
