Amidthe rising tension between India and Pakistan over the recent development inJammu and Kashmir, thousands of people gathered at the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost between India and Pakistan on Thursday to celebrate India's 73rdIndependence Day.

Various singers and performers amused the crowd with patriotic and other songs to mark the occasion. Marching band contingent of Border Security Force (BSF) playing to the tunes of "Himmat Watan Ki Hamse Hai", "Ye Desh hai veer Jawano ka" and other patriotic songs, was loudly applauded by the audience.

It maybe mentioned here that there was no exchange of customary Indian sweets by theBSF with the Pakistan Rangers at the Attari-Wagah border on the occasion of India'sIndependence Day due to heightened tension between the two nations.