Itanagar, Sept. 20: Leaders of the Apatani and Nyishi tribes of Arunachal Pradesh today signed an accord - which chief minister Nabam Tuki said would usher in a "new era of peaceful co-existence and social harmony".

Ziro Valley in Lower Subansiri district has traditionally been home to the Apatanis with the Nyishis being their immediate neighbours. The tribes have shared a tumultuous history, marked by incidents of violence.

Nyishi Elite Society (NES) president Bengia Tolum and Tanw Supun Dukun (TSD) president Hage Loder signed the accord - the Joint Declaration of Nyishi-Apatani Summit - at Hapoli, near Ziro, in the presence of the chief minister.

The NES and TSD are apex social bodies of the Nyishis and Apatanis respectively.

Tuki said people who stoke hatred and violence in the name of caste, creed and community constitute only 1 per cent of the population. "And with such social sanction provided by the accord this one per cent of people will be overpowered and no petty differences or disputes will ever take a communal colour," he said.

Similar accords have been signed by the NES with the Bodos of Assam and Akas of West Kameng district in the past.

Tuki said the differences between the Nyishis and the Bodos along the interstate boundary had been resolved peacefully after the agreements were signed.

Asking other tribes in the state to take a cue from the development, he said the state government would also encourage inter-tribe marriages by rewarding such couples with Rs 50,000.

Tuki also spoke about Ziro's infrastructure and called for an expansion of the town's area.

Having travelled by road to Ziro from Itanagar - Tuki took responsibility for the bad road conditions and stated: "I, as the representative of the government, am also guilty."

The road, which is part of the Trans-Arunachal highway, should have been already completed and Tuki said he do his "best to arrange maintenance funds and improve the condition of the road".