Story by Tichaona Kurewa
The government of India has pledged to scale up investments in various sectors of Zimbabwe’s economy.
Zimbabwe and India have strong ties, with a number of Indian companies such as Varun Beverages and Surface Wilmar Investments investing millions in the country.
Indian Ambassador to Zimbabwe His Excellency Mr Vijay Khanduja told ZBC News in Victoria Falls this Friday that the ground is fertile for Harare and New Delhi to scale up cooperation.
“Our bilateral trade is in the vicinity of US$200 million, dominated by pharmaceuticals and engineering goods. We have investments from India in the order of US$100 million dollars. Varun Beverages is a famous name, they commissioned a new line last year. There are also people in the manufacturing of edible oils, the company came via India and they invested US$20 million in the last year. An agreement has also been signed with Digit Max, they will do refurbishment of cinema houses and bring in new technologies in cinema making,” he said.
Turning to the International Day of Yoga celebrated on the 21st of June each year, the Indian Ambassador said it is another opportunity to cement cultural relations.
“It certainly boosts relations and it’s not a commercial activity, it’s part of the soft culture which boosts and enhances relations on the cultural side.”
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice which originated in ancient India.
“It’s a quite relaxing exercise, to be honest. You get into your own world, away from the noise of the world; your soul is transported and transformed to somewhere else,” a participant said.
Another said, “It’s fun doing yoga, I learnt a lot of interesting exercises which can help boost my concentration.”
With arts, culture and sports having great potential to attract tourists to any destination, yoga is one such activity that can add positive numbers especially those from the Indian source market.
Online yoga’s origins can be traced to northern India over 5,000 years ago and it promotes strength, endurance, and flexibility and facilitates characteristics of friendliness, compassion, and greater self-control.
Yoga is a fun and meditative approach to fitness, which helps to relax both the mind and the body. According to yoga enthusiasts, the activity helps in combating all sorts of mental and emotional issues.