On the occasion of Republic Day, the Border Security Force (BSF) offered sweets to its Pakistani counterpart on the International Border in Attari on Saturday.
BSF Commandant Mukund Kumar Jha gave the sweets to Pakistani Border Wing Commander Usman Khalid at the zero line on the Attari-Wagah border. Personnel of the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers hugged and shook hands, besides exchanging pleasantries, officials said.
The personnel also clicked photographs with each other, they said.
The tradition of offering sweets was suspended on January 26, 2018 due to heightened tension along the International Border and the Line of Control in view of ceasefire violations. It was reinstated in August 2018 when both nations celebrated their Independence Days.
However, there was no exchange of sweets at the Chakan Da Bagh crossing point along the LoC at Poonch. Pakistani troops on Saturday violated ceasefire by targeting forward posts and villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, promoting “strong and effective retaliation” by the Indian Army, a Defence spokesman said. “No exchange of sweets at Chakan Da Bagh in view of the ongoing tense situation,” a source said.
He said Indian army retaliated strongly and effectively to silence the Pakistani guns.Meanwhile, BSF personnel exchanged sweets with their Bangladeshi counterparts in Fulbari, at the Indo-Bangladesh border near Siliguri in West Bengal.
