New Delhi, April 27 (IANS): Promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of establishing yoga centres across the Pacific Island Countries (PICs), four yoga trainers from Papua New Guinea (PNG) left for India on Saturday to attend a month-long course in Bengaluru.

The group waved the Indian flag at Port Moresby's Jackson International Airport as it left the PNG shores to attend the course sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University (S-VYASA) in Bengaluru.

"This initiative is under PM's vision of establishing yoga centres in PICs during FIPIC-3 Summit 2023. Wish them all success," the High Commission of India in Papua New Guinea posted on X, adding that the yoga trainers will also promote the healthy lifestyle of Port Moresbyians during their "transformative journey" to India.

Last year, Prime Minister Modi travelled to Port Moresby to host the third summit of the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC III Summit) jointly with his counterpart from Papua New Guinea, James Marape.

Launched in 2014, FIPIC involves India and 14 PICs, namely, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

"Scientific studies have shown that yoga can be highly effective in preventing lifestyle diseases like diabetes. We propose establishing yoga centres in your countries to promote its benefits," said Prime Minister Modi while making his concluding remarks at the Summit on May 22, 2023.