A large number of Chinese yoga enthusiasts on Tuesday participated in a colourful yoga event at China's iconic Great Wall on the eve of International Yoga Day which is being celebrated all over the Communist nation.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh took part in the event and practiced the yoga postures for a while.
The event was jointly organised by Embassy of India, Beijing Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and Yogi Yoga, a popular yoga school.
The event is a cultural milestone, marking the first time yoga has been performed atop the Great Wall by a joint Indian and Chinese group of yogis, the embassy said in a statement.
Singh, who wrapped up his visit to Beijing to attend the BRICS Foreign Ministers' meeting, took time out on his way to the airport to join the event.
In a brief speech, Singh talked about the goodness of yoga and quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as saying that yoga was Indian civilisation's gift to the world.
Charge d'Affaires of the Indian Embassy Amit Narang and CPAFFC Vice-President Lin Yi hailed the event for taking forward India-China friendly cultural exchanges and yoga for bringing wellness to humanity.
Around 200 Chinese and Indian participants then carried out the Common Yoga Protocol, followed by a spectacular display of advanced yoga poses by 20 young Indian yoga ambassadors from the Morarji Desai Institute in India, who are specially visiting China for International Day of Yoga celebrations.
