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Itanagar, Jan 30: In a show of camaraderie among the people of the two Northeastern states living along the inter-state boundary, a ‘Border Festival’ was held at Lal Bahadur Shastri School playground at Bhalukpong on Sunday.
The ‘Border Festival’, first of its kind in the region, was organized by Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district administration in collaboration with its counterpart from Assam’s Sonitpur district, official sources said.
This festival comes amid the ongoing border talks being held by the Regional Committees from both sides to resolve the decades-old inter-state boundary dispute between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, as per the Namsai Declaration inked by the Chief Ministers of both states on July 15, 2022.
A slew of events, including musical extravaganza involving noted singers from both sides, sports meet, exhibitions, etc were organized to mark the festival.
The festival got underway in the morning hours with ceremonial flag hoisting by the Circle Officers of Bhalukpong (West Kameng) and Charduar (Sonitpur).
Present on the occasion were Arunachal’s Thrizino-Buragaon MLA Kumsi Sidisow, Assam’s Sootea MLA Padma Hazarika, West Kameng DC Karma Leki, Sonitpur DC Deba Kumar Mishra, and administrative officers and Panchayat leaders from both districts, among others.
The Sports meet was inaugurated jointly by Thrizino ADC Topek Kakki and ADC Pankaj Nagbanshi. Exhibitions and cultural programmes were also organised.
In the musical show, Nahid Afreen from Assam and Jelly Kayi of Arunachal Pradesh – both contestants of the singing reality show Indian Idol Junior and Indian Idol Season 9 respectively – enthralled the crowd with their scintillating performances, sources added.
