As Yoga and Ayurveda become part of India’s global health diplomacy, experts press for credible standards
Traditional medicine, covering Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy under the AYUSH umbrella, has been formally written into recent Indian trade agreements, including dedicated annexures on health-related services and traditional medicine in the India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), both finalised in December 2025.
The India-EU trade framework also recognises AYUSH practitioners, allowing them to offer services in EU member states based on Indian qualifications where traditional medicine is unregulated, and requiring that licensing rules where regulation exists not amount to disguised requalification.
Experts in the public health and regulatory space have flagged that formal trade recognition alone is insufficient — durable global acceptance of AYUSH requires credible clinical evidence, harmonised quality standards, practitioner licensing frameworks and patient-safety safeguards.
Concerns raised include fragmented regulation across countries, limited practitioner licensure abroad, absence of harmonised pharmacopeial standards, and the need for pharmacovigilance systems comparable to those used for conventional medicine.
Ministry of AYUSH and the Institutional Architecture of Traditional Medicine
The Ministry of AYUSH was carved out as a separate Ministry on 9 November 2014 (upgraded from the Department of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homoeopathy, created in 1995 and renamed AYUSH in 2003). It governs Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa and Homoeopathy, and works through statutory bodies such as the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM, replacing the Central Council of Indian Medicine under the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020) and the National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH Act, 2020), which regulate practitioner education and registration.
Key Details
- Ministry of AYUSH established: 9 November 2014
- NCISM Act, 2020 and NCH Act, 2020 replaced the earlier Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970 and Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973, introducing NEET-based, standardised medical education oversight for AYUSH streams
- Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has set up a dedicated Ayush standardisation department (2024) to frame quality and safety standards for Ayush products
- Government roadmap targets positioning Ayurveda as a scientifically credible, regulation-ready, globally accessible system of medicine by India's centenary of independence in 2047
The regulatory gap experts are flagging is precisely the space these bodies (NCISM, NCH, BIS) are meant to fill domestically before AYUSH systems can credibly claim mutual recognition abroad — trade-pact annexures create market access, but practitioner licensing and product standards remain a national regulatory responsibility.
WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) and Global Health Governance
The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine was established in Jamnagar, Gujarat — the first and only WHO global knowledge centre for traditional medicine — following a Cabinet approval in March 2022 and formal launch in April 2022, after being announced by the WHO Director-General in November 2020. It works with WHO's existing six regional offices to build an evidence base, data and standards for traditional medicine practices worldwide.
Key Details
- Host country agreement signed between India and WHO; India has committed funding support (including a pledge of US$85 million, announced 2024) toward the Centre's establishment and operating costs
- The Centre focuses on four pillars: evidence and learning, data and analytics, sustainability and equity, and innovation and technology for traditional medicine
- It complements, but is distinct from, WHO's headquarters-level Traditional Medicine Unit and the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023 (extended to 2025)
The GCTM is the multilateral evidence-generation backbone that experts say AYUSH's global diplomatic push needs to lean on — trade pacts open doors, but WHO-anchored evidence and standards are what make regulators in partner countries accept AYUSH products and practitioners.
International Day of Yoga and Yoga as Soft Power Diplomacy
Yoga's use as a diplomatic and health-outreach tool traces to Prime Minister's proposal at the 69th UN General Assembly (27 September 2014); the UNGA adopted the resolution establishing 21 June as the International Day of Yoga on 11 December 2014, with a record 177 co-sponsoring countries — the summer solstice date was chosen for its symbolic significance across cultures.
Key Details
- First International Day of Yoga observed: 21 June 2015
- Coordinated within India by the Ministry of AYUSH; conducted globally through Indian missions abroad
- Complements India's broader "medical value travel" (wellness tourism) push, which the Oman and New Zealand pacts explicitly reference through provisions on medical value travel facilitation and capacity building
Yoga's diplomatic success (near-universal UN adoption) is often cited as the template India wants to replicate for Ayurveda and other AYUSH systems, but experts note yoga's acceptance rested on it being a low-risk practice, whereas Ayurveda and Unani involve pharmacological products and clinical claims that require a higher evidentiary and regulatory bar.
- India-Oman CEPA and India-New Zealand FTA: both finalised December 2025, each with a dedicated traditional medicine/health-services annexure
- Ministry of AYUSH established: 9 November 2014
- WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine, Jamnagar: Cabinet approval March 2022, launched April 2022; first such WHO centre globally
- AYUSH product exports: US$688.89 million in FY 2024-25, up 6.11% from US$649.2 million in FY 2023-24
- Overall AYUSH sector market size (India, 2024): estimated at US$43.4 billion, projected to grow at roughly 17% CAGR
- International Day of Yoga: adopted by UNGA on 11 December 2014 with 177 co-sponsoring countries; first observed 21 June 2015
- NCISM Act and NCH Act: both enacted in 2020, replacing decades-old central council structures for Indian medicine and homoeopathy regulation