New Delhi: A traditional ceremony where sweets are exchanged between Indian and Pakistani border guarding forces on the occasion of Id did not take place on Monday. BSF, which guards the Indo-Pak border in four major sectors of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Gujarat had in fact sent a message to their counterparts across the border, Pakistani Rangers for the ceremony but Pakistani security forces refused to attend it. The move is being linked to a series of unilateral measures, which Pakistan has announced regarding India ever since Article 370 was revoked.
Pakistan has already downgraded its diplomatic ties with India and stopped bus and train services between the two countries in wake of developments in J&K.
BSF officials clarified that the customary ceremony of exchanging sweets did not take place at any of the border location in the four sectors, where BSF is deployed along the 3,000 km Indo-Pak border. It has been a tradition to exchange sweets between border guarding forces on important festivals like Id, Holi, Diwali along with the national days of the two countries.
The ceremony, however, did take place between BSF and Border Guards of Bangladesh at designated check posts along the 4,096-km between the two countries.
