Gabbard will support in Congress ‘International Yoga Day’.
By Sujeet Rajan
NEW YORK: In a thoughtful and personal gesture, which testifies to the deep respect and admiration she has for India, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard presented prime minister Narendra Modi her personal copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, which she has had since she was a child and was “a source of courage and comfort” during her two tours of duty in the Middle East as a soldier, and which she took her Congressional Oath of Office on.
Gabbard – the first practicing Hindu in the US House of Representatives – also presented Modi with a ginger flower garland from her home state of Hawaiʻi, which Modi pointed out was a tradition in India as well, when the two met at the Madison Square Garden, on Sunday.
“It was a great privilege to meet with Prime Minister Modi and personally welcome him on his historic visit to America. The Prime Minister’s visit to the U.S. is a great opportunity to further develop the vital friendship and cooperation between the world’s largest and oldest democracies,” said Gabbard. “We had a wide-ranging discussion on several issues our countries have in common, including how America and India can work together to help combat the global threat posed by Islamic extremism.”
Gabbard said she made a commitment to Modi to take the lead in Congress to pass a resolution in support of the Prime Minister’s appeal to the UN to create an “International Yoga Day.” Both agreed that “Yoga is widely misunderstood as a system of physical exercise rather than a lifestyle consciousness and world view that can help improve health, provide insight for addressing environmental challenges, facilitate world peace, and much more.”
Gabbard said she and Modi agreed that “The West would be surprised by the vast knowledge and solutions the ancient Vedic texts have to offer the modern world.”
On Tuesday, Gabbard attended a lunch held in Modi’s honor in Washington, D.C. hosted by Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry.