Exchange of sweets between BSF jawans and Pakistan Rangers at Indo-Pak border on the occasion of ‘Bakrid’, after year 2019 BSF and Pak Rangers presented sweets to each other on Bakrid

New Delhi: The Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday presented sweets to each other on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) at various places along the border. For the first time since the year 2019, the security forces of both the countries have shared the happiness of this festival by distributing sweets. After this, Pakistan unilaterally stopped the practice of exchanging sweets on festive occasions.

“The exchange of sweets on the occasion of Eid between BSF and Pakistan Rangers took place at Joint Border Post at Attari in Amritsar district of Punjab,” a BSF spokesperson said here. This post falls in front of the Wagah border of Pakistan. Similarly, exchange of sweets took place between the forces of both the countries on the border with Pakistan in Rajasthan.

Pak had refused to continue the tradition

After the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, the exchange of sweets took place between the security forces of the two countries. Earlier, Pakistan had refused to continue the tradition of exchanging sweets on festive occasions after the 2019 decision. Though the BSF made an offer, there was no response from Pakistan.

A BSF spokesperson, however, said last year that the practice was postponed due to COVID-19. The BSF guards the 2290-km-long international border between India and Pakistan that passes through Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. On the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha, sweets were exchanged between the two forces along the border in Jammu as well.

Exchange of sweets after Pulwama attack

The Jammu Frontier of the BSF said in a statement, “This is the first time after the Pulwama attack (in 2019) that there has been an exchange of sweets between the two security forces (BSF and Pakistan Rangers). There has been no shelling on the border for a long time and agricultural activities are going on in a peaceful manner on both sides of the border.

Significantly, on 14 February 2019, a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber targeted a convoy of 70 vehicles of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) going from Jammu to Srinagar in which 40 personnel of the force were martyred. After this, India destroyed the terrorist hideout by air strike in Balakot, Pakistan.