Washington, April 13 (IANS): Indian parliamentarian Tarun Vijay has urged fellow lawmakers from around the world to popularise yoga in their countries as an effective instrument of preventive healthcare.

As many as 170 countries at the UN had supported Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga, the Bharatiya Janata Party MP noted at a Global Parliamentary Conference at the World Bank here Sunday.

During a session on healthcare, Tim Evans, senior director for health, nutrition and population, World Bank Group, also said yoga is a proven method to stay fit and hence has been accepted as an effective preventive healthcare system.

Evans, who was responding to queries whether the World Bank and IMF would consider including yoga as part of their healthcare programmes worldwide, said he would appeal to all parliamentarians to start practicing it and popularise it in their regions.