A candle light vigil was held at the Indo-Pak border here to mark the country's 63rd Independence Day, a move that generated an equivocal response from people across the boundary.

Members from Indian chapter of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) and NGO Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, including guests from Pakistan, gathered at the Attari check post on the international border on the intervening night of 14-15 for the candle light vigil.

This is for the second consecutive time after the Independence that people from Pakistan reciprocated the move on their side of the border.

A cultural programme was held near the Wagah border by Hind-Pak Dosti Manch and Folklore Research Academy for the Indians and the Pakistani guests and Punjabi Sufi singers Hans Raj Hans and Lakhwinder Wadali performed on the occasion.

The Hind-Pak Dosti Manch was founded by journalist and columnist Kuldip Nayyar and Satnam Manak in 1996.

Speaking on the occasion, Nayyar said people-to-people contact exercise between the two nations could be enhanced with hassle free visa system.

Nayyar said the vigil is a symbolic gesture of unity, "as it gives a wakeup call to both governments to end enmity and get on to the business like two good neighbours".

SAFMA's Pakistan chapter director Imtiaz Alam, Pakistani human rights advocate Owais Sheikh and Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt participated in the vigil here.

On this occasion, several members made an appeal to both the nations to grant visa at least for an year to people who had suffered the pain of the partition in 1947.

They said visa counters should be set up at the Wagah border on both sides to facilitate travel between the two nations.