Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh on Wednesday inaugurated the 1st North East Olympic Games at Khuman Lampak main stadium here amid fanfare.

Altogether 1,490 athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim and the host state are participating in the event. Manipur has the largest contingent of 149 players.

The athletes will compete in the following disciplines — archery, boxing, athletics, football, shooting, wushu, taekwondo, weightlifting, karate, badminton, judo and table tennis.

“The Northeast has not able to cohesively integrate emotionally, socially or economically. So this is a chance to bring peace and nurture friendships through sport. The talent pool and the potential in the region is tremendous,” Biren Singh said.

“Sportspersons from the state and the rest of the region have made the country proud by their achievements in national and international arena. Sports has turned into a career option and presents a tremendous opportunity talented youth from the region,” said Biren Singh, who is also chief patron of the Games.

“We require a collaborative and cooperative approach between the stakeholders and states in the region to unlock the full potential of our youth. For this we need to pool our limited resources, share our experiences and expertise to produce the best sportspersons from the region,” he added.

Wishing the athletes, Biren Singh urged the all participants to perform to the best of their abilities maintaining the true spirit of sportsmanship.

Earlier, seven Arjuna awardees, including L. Bombayla Devi (archery), Ng. Dingko Singh (boxing) and O. Bembem Devi (football), carried the Games torch and lit the flame. Archer Paonam Lily Chanu took the oath of fair play on behalf of all players.

Organising secretary Sunil Elangbam read out a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi which said that it is a great moment for the sportspersons of the Northeast to showcase their talent and to promote sport.

A march-past by the participating teams and cultural programmes marked the inauguration.

There was no sporting event on Wednesday.

Manipur Olympic Association president and organising committee chairman Th. Radheshyam, health minister L. Jayantakumar, youth affairs and sports minister Letpao Haokip, forest minister Th. Shyamkumar and Arunachal Pradesh youth affairs and sports minister Mohesh Chai, among others, were present.

For the successful conduct of the Games, North Eastern Council sanctioned Rs 20 lakh while the state government contributed Rs 50 lakh.

A joint meeting of the North East Olympic Association in Imphal on July 24, 2017, had decided to organise a Northeast sports meet, which led to the organising of the Games.