India, Dec. 10 -- A clay flute tradition from Pakistan's Sindh region - with echoes stretching back to the Indus Valley and faint parallels in Gujarat - became the early focal point of the 20th session of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage on Tuesday, as delegates voted to place the Boreendo, a spherical terracotta vessel-flute, on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

The meeting, hosted at Delhi's Red Fort, is reviewing 67 global nominations this year. It will also take up India's proposal to inscribe Deepavali on Wednesday - a nomination backed by a large set of community endorsements from cultural institutions, universities and practitioners across Ind...