The Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday inaugurated the 4-day India International Cherry Blossom festival, a tourism festival that highlights the pink cherry flowers blooming all over the city in early November.
Similar festival is also held in Japan but it is celebrated in the spring when the cherry trees bloom.
"The Cherry Blossom Festival this year is being elevated to international status with the participation of the Government of Japan through its delegates. Its significance goes beyond the blooming of cherry trees as it creates a space for mutual exchange of culture and ideas," he said while addressing at the inaugural event of the festival.
The chief minister said the festival provides a platform to celebrate the autumn season and this celebration will provide a mosaic of sports, culture and culinary delights of Meghalaya, North East India beside partners from Japan.
He said that the Indo-Japan collaboration has taken a leap forward because of the efforts that have been made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
"This festival represents one of the ways of strengthening that (Indo-Japanese) relationship further," he said.
The chief minister also said that the festival will give a big boost to tourism not just in Meghalaya but in the entire North Eastern region and expressed hope that the state witnesses more visitors than the impressive footfall at the festival held last year.
Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu said the festival is symbolic of the friendship between India and Japan and provides a channel for people to people and cultural exchanges between India and Japan which will in turn promote stronger bonds between the two countries.
Events including sky diving, painting and drawing competition, dog show, story telling, fashion show and kids show competition among others were part of the show.
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