Sharing India's vision for a healthier world population in his monthly "Mann ki Baat" radio broadcast, Modi said, "The theme of yoga day, 2025, has been kept as 'Yoga for One Earth, One Health'.

Modi was denied a visa to enter the U.S. in 2005, when he was the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, over accusations that he had failed to stop deadly riots against minority Muslims.

Yoga is portable and is truly universal," PM Modi added. He said Yoga is "portable" as it could be practised at home, at work or in transit. "It is also flexible as it can be practised alone.

Yoga awakens us to this interconnectedness, leads us on a journey towards oneness with the world, and teaches us that we are not isolated individuals but part of nature," ANI quoted PM Modi as saying.

The timing of Modi's visit to New York aligned with Wednesday's International Day of Yoga — a global occasion the Indian leader himself pushed the U.N. to designate in 2014.