BSF, Pakistan Rangers exchange sweets for first time since 2019
(Sourced from PTI)
The Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday exchanged sweets at various points along the border on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, the first time since the Pakistani side shunned the custom in 2019. The exchange was stopped after the Narendra Modi government on August 5, 2019, abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
A BSF spokesperson in Delhi said that an exchange of sweets took place at JCP (joint check post) Attari in Punjab's Amritsar district, which lies across the Wagah border front of Pakistan. A similar exchange of sweets took place between the two forces along the Rajasthan front too, officials said. The exchange of sweets also took place along the border in Jammu.
The BSF spokesperson said the custom was suspended last year due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The BSF guards about 2,290 km of India-Pakistan International Border (IB) that runs north to south from Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan up to Gujarat on India's western flank. This is the first exchange of sweets between the two border guarding forces after the Pulwama incident (in 2019).
Exchange of sweets is also undertaken during festivals like Diwali and Eid, Republic Day, Independence Day, BSF Raising Day on December 1, and Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14. India and Pakistan had on February 25 this year released a joint statement announcing a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, following talks between their Directors General of Military Operations.
Meanwhile, a similar exchange continued as usual between the BSF and their Bangladesh counterpart BGB at multiple locations along the 4,096-km-long IB on the eastern flank of the country. "It is a long-running tradition between the two forces," the BSF said. The south Bengal frontier of the BSF guards about 903 km of the India-Bangladesh border along with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
