Prime Minister Oli said Nepal could not take the practice of Yoga across the globe due to which there was no international recognition

Asserting that Yoga originated in Nepal and not in India, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Monday said that much before the existence of India as a nation, yoga was and has been practiced in Nepal.

The Prime Minister was speaking at an event held at his residence Baluwatar on the occasion of International Yoga Day.

“Yoga originated in Nepal and not in India. There was no existence of India when Yoga started. There was no country like India because there were several fringe states when yoga came into practice in Nepal,” Oli said in his address.

Prime Minister Oli said Nepal could not take the practice of Yoga across the globe due to which there was no international recognition.

“Many famous sages and Maharishis such as Patanjali, Kapilmuni, and Charaka were born in Nepal. They studied and practice here itself,” he added.

Oli said, Yoga got international recognition after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the UN to celebrate International Yoga Day.

International Day of Yoga has been celebrated annually on June 21 since 2015, following its inception in the United Nations General Assembly in 2014.

Prime Minister Modi, in his UN address, had suggested the date of 21 June, as it is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many parts of the world.

Meanwhile, Embassy of India in Kathmandu had earlier organised virtual seventh International Day of Yoga, as part of its ongoing celebration of India@75 'Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.