Prime Minister Narendra Modi today performed Yoga with over 50,000 enthusiasts at the Forest Research Institute campus here, saying the ancient Indian discipline has emerged as the most powerful unifying force in a strife-torn world. Addressing the large gathering in the backdrop of the iconic British-era building of FRI, Modi said yoga has shown the world the way from "illness to wellness" and enriching lives across the globe. He said in fact yoga has become the biggest mass movement across the globe in the quest for good health and wellbeing, which is crucial to the creation of a peaceful world.

"Dehradun to Dublin, Shanghai to Chicago, Jakarta to Johannesburg, Himalayan highlands or sunburnt deserts, Yoga is enriching millions of lives all over the world. "Yoga fosters amity in societies which can form the basis of national unity," the prime minister said. He said the proposal for the Yoga Day at the UN was accepted in record time with a majority of nations supporting it. Today people all over the world have come to look upon yoga as something which belongs to them, Modi said. He also asked people to learn to honour their own legacy and heritage if they wanted the rest of the world to respect them. "If we don't take pride in our own legacy and heritage no one else will. We should not hesitate in honouring the gems of our own heritage. He said the way to lead a calm, creative and content life was Yoga.