Rajnath Singh Yoga Day Anchors IDY 2026 at Eastern Air Command

Rajnath Singh Yoga Day celebrations this year ran out of the Eastern Air Command headquarters in Shillong, where the Defence Minister performed asanas and breathing exercises alongside around 1,000 soldiers of the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army on June 21. The 12th International Day of Yoga drew the Defence Forces and the Ministry of Defence into a single mass session in the Meghalaya capital.

Rajnath Singh Yoga Day Draws 1,000 Soldiers in Shillong

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma joined the morning. So did Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh.

Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Air Command Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia and General Officer Commanding of Headquarters 101 Area Lieutenant General Mohit Wadhwa were on the mat with the minister as the count of participants crossed a thousand. The Shillong turnout followed the schedule flagged earlier in the week, with the Eastern Air Command picked as the lead venue for the ministerial session.

Holistic Science, in the Minister's Words

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Rajnath Singh called Yoga a holistic science and an art of living, one that ties a person to their inner self, to society, to nature and to the divine. He said it opens a route to inner stability, mental clarity and emotional resilience.

In a post on X, Rajnath Singh credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for turning Yoga into a global movement and said the discipline carries the strength of India's ancient traditions into the service of human wellbeing. He asked people to fold Yoga into their daily routine to build a healthy body, a calm mind and a strong nation.

Read the minister's full post here: https://x.com/rajnathsingh/status/2068500597196931257

Modi's Message from Kolkata

The Shillong gathering watched the Prime Minister's IDY address, delivered this year from the Red Road in Kolkata. Yoga sessions ran in parallel at forward locations, where troops on duty marked the day at their posts. Three indigenous warships were set for commissioning in the capital the same morning.

Away from Meghalaya, the celebrations spread across the defence establishment.

Across the Defence Establishment

Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth marked Yoga Day at the Swarn Jyanti Dikshant Mandap at Ranchi University, at an event put together by the Ministry of AYUSH. He said Yoga teaches a person to stay even in good circumstances and bad, and called it the most powerful medium for building positivity within.

At the National War Memorial in New Delhi, Chief of Defence Staff General NS Raja Subramani led the session run by Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff. Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit attended with senior officers and their families.

The theme this year was Yoga for Healthy Ageing. Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Secretary Defence Finance Vishvajit Sahay and Controller General of Defence Accounts Anugraha Narayana Das performed Yoga at the CGDA office in the capital. More than 10,000 officials of the Defence Accounts Department logged in to a virtual session that stretched across the country. The Ministry of Defence tied the various venues into a common observance.

A Decade of the Yoga Day Drill

The day fits a pattern the forces have kept since the first International Day of Yoga in 2015, when the United Nations adopted the Indian proposal. Each June the services run mass drills at bases, on warship decks and at high-altitude posts. The Indian Air Force had already set out its country-wide plan in its Common Yoga Protocol schedule for the day.