Tens of thousands join Indian leader for world yoga day

Thousands of Indians perform yoga as they mark International Day of Yoga in Allahabad, India on June 21, 2018. AP

DEHRADUN, India — Some 50,000 people have gathered with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Himalayan foothills to salute the power of yoga.

Modi, an ardent Hindu nationalist, traveled to the hill town of Dehradun for the fourth International Day of Yoga, and shortly after sunrise was doing yoga exercises with about 50,000 people.

Modi said in a speech that “yoga is enriching millions of lives all over the world.”

Tens of thousands more people joined in mass yoga exercises across the country, including staff at the New Delhi airport, middle-class urbanites and students at countless schools.