Speech by the Ambassador at the Inauguration Ceremony of the 7th International Conference on Yoga
Hotel Hilton, Tashkent; September 17, 2025
Mr. Jakhongir Artykhodjaev, Chairman, Yoga Federation of Uzbekistan
Mr. Sharifjon Muminjanov, Adviser, Ministry of Sports
Mr. Abhay Kumar, DDG, ICCR
Mr. Mumtaz Ali
Dear Friends,
We are happy that the 7th International Conference on Yoga and first ever in Central Asia is being held in Uzbekistan today- a country with which India has since long shared civilisational affinities.
This is the largest ICCR organized international conference on yoga held till date with participation of experts from 10 countries. That it is being held in Uzbekistan is significant. This region, once the heart of the Silk Road, has always been a melting pot of cultures and ideas. It is therefore the most apt venue for holding a conference on yoga, a discipline that promotes of unity and oneness of humanity.
Friends, experts will share their views on the wisdom of Yoga. I wish to point that Yoga, today, is amongst the fastest growing economic industry globally. Today, yoga industry is growing at more than 9 percent with an expected market size to be over USD 200 billion by 2030 with US, India, China, UK and Germany being the top five markets.
We shouldn’t be surprised as 21st century is saddled with mental health disorder. It is a general perception that as 20th century was the age of industrialization, this is the age of anxiety. WHO report mentions that over 1 billion people are living with mental health disorders worldwide. So imagine people around you and me in our neighbourhood in our families and if I may candidly say so, even some amongst us may have suffered or are facing some mental health issues on a daily basis impacting our lives our relationships and our very own being. Therefore, the work of Yoga Federation and Ministry of Sports in Uzbekistan and work of Ministry of Ayush and ICCR in India is noble and important. We are discussing and getting it to the very core of both our hardware and software if we are to function in harmony and to our fullest potential.
Yoga is helping attract more tourism to countries around the world be it
Bali (Ubud) in Indonesia, Chiang Mai / Koh Samui, Thailand, Byron Bay in Australia, Ibiza in Spain –Santorini in Greece Sinai in Egypt, sacred valley in Peru or nature immersed retreats in Costa Rica and list goes on. Uzbekistan and other countries in Central Asia with their incredible landscape and beauty can also harness this opportunity. For that, India can offer the skill and resource training so that the right form of asanas, postures of Yoga are taught and practised and also if I may say so, misperceptions about Yoga get addressed.
In this regard, I reiterate what my PM said on IDY that got commemorated at UN in New York in June 2023 and what Mr. Jahongir has also echoed.
“Yoga is free of copyrights, patents and royalty payments. Yoga is adaptable to your age, gender and fitness level. Yoga is portable and is truly universal.”
Yoga practitioners in Uzbekistan have demonstrated their skill and understanding of Yoga by securing 26 medals at the 2nd Yogasana Asian Championship. Kudos ! It would not have been possible without the active involvement of the Yoga Federation. Also, commendable to see how the system of certifying yoga instructors is working in Uzbekistan. Close to 200 people have obtained certificates from the Yoga Certification Board and now we are looking at training the teachers, having joint project and researches on benefits of yoga and also frequent exchanges between our scholars like Sri M who apart from delivering the keynote address today, will be moderating a session on “Yoga One Earth and One Family later this afternoon. His expertise is being actively sought by many other countries around the world and given his hectic schedule, I wish to thank him for taking time out to attend this conference. Given that the Delhi and Tashkent flight is less than 3 hours, we hope that he will be able to travel more frequently to the beautiful land of Uzbekistan and render his expertise and guidance.
Friends, in this two-day conference, we are expecting tangible outcomes. We are hoping that the participants will be able to suggest implementable ideas on yoga, health policy initiative, training research, joint collaboration etc. We will then take it forward with the help of the two Governments. Needless to add, the Embassy will continue to play the bridge between the nodal institutions on the two sides.
Just want to say that together as we brainstorm these ideas, India and Uzbekistan relations continue to get stronger with each passing day. Our two leaders had a very productive meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in China. They apart from several other issues also discussed having stronger cultural and people to people cooperation. Let India Uzbekistan friendship fuelled by love and harmony stay eternal.
Hindiston va O’zbekiston do’stona aloqalari abadiy bo’lsin!
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