M. Venkaiah, Vice President inaugrated the two-day ‘International Conference on Yoga for Wellness’ today at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.

Shripad Yesso Naik, The Minister of State (Independent Charge) for AYUSH was also present at the inaugural function along with C.K. Mishra, Secretary (AYUSH), Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Special Secretary and Yoga Gurus of International repute were also present. About 500 delegates including 69 from 44 overseas countries are registered to attend the conference.

The conference is being organized by Ministry of AYUSH as a part of commemorating the celebration of 21st June as International Day of Yoga declared by the United Nations.

The thematic areas of deliberations include Yoga research in non-communicable diseases and scope of Yoga in Integrated Medicine, Control of Cancer, Depression, Gynecological disorders and Pain Management.

25 national and international experts are the speakers and 11 highly reckoned resource persons of Yoga and Medical field as Chairpersons and Co-chairpersons of the technical sessions.

Vice President said, "the ancient science of Yoga is India’s invaluable gift to the modern world. He further said that we believe that knowledge and science should be transmitted freely for the welfare of the entire world."

"Yoga goes beyond the physical exercises and connects the body with thought processes. He further said that Yoga has nothing to do with religion, as some people unfortunately attribute religious overtones to this ancient scientific system. It is a science of well being that needs to be studied and practiced just as any other medical system."

"Yoga should become a part and parcel of our daily routine to combat the modern-day health problems, both physical and mental. He further said that Yoga aims to help us to achieve a state of equilibrium when we are at peace with ourselves so that we can create a peaceful environment", he added.

Interest and enthusiasm for Yoga has increased tremendously all over the world during the last three years with the UN declaration of International Day of Yoga and its global celebrations.

The International Conference has been organized with the technical and logistic support of Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy and Moraji Desai National Institute of Yoga and it is an attempt to project the potential of Yoga in the management of certain health problems and for promotion of wellness and for sharing of scientific experiences.

This will be the third International Conference on Yoga organized by the Ministry of AYUSH. The last two International conferences on the themes of ‘Yoga for Holistic Health’ and ‘Yoga for Body and Beyond’ were organized in 2015 and 2016 respectively.