WASHINGTON, Aug 16: Pakistanis and Indians living in the greater Washington area held a peace march this weekend to celebrate their 57th Independence Day.

The organizers had chosen the afternoon of Aug. 14 for the rally, when it was still the Pakistani independence day in the United States and people in India had begun their independence day celebrations.

They welcomed recent moves by the two governments to resolve their differences through talks and reminded them that the India-Pakistan rivalry has plagued the entire South Asian region.

Speakers said the regions that were economically behind South Asia in 1947, when India and Pakistan became independent, had moved ahead while wars and conflicts slowed progress in South Asia.

Defying heavy rains and inclement weather members of the Indian and Pakistani communities of the greater Washington DC area came together in solidarity for peace.

The rally began with a cherished South Asian tradition, poetry recital. Poets struggled heard to be louder than the wins of Hurricane Charley, reciting poems in both Hindi and Urdu that resonated with theme of peace.