Pakistan Rangers refuse to accept sweets from BSF on Eid

AMRITSAR/JAMMU: Amid the prevailing tension between India and Pakistan over ceasefire violations along their border, Pakistani Rangers today refused to accept the sweets offered by the BSF on the occasion of Eid.

Border guarding forces of the two countries have been following a tradition of exchanging sweets on festivals at the International Border in Jammu and along the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar in Punjab.

Border Security Force (BSF) Deputy Inspector General in Amritsar, M F Farooqui, told reporters that their gesture of giving sweets on the occasion of Eid was not reciprocated from the other side along the Attari-Wagah border.

"We give sweets on Eid every time. The Rangers have not accepted it today. We always want to maintain peace and tranquillity on the border," he said.

However, the BSF did not offer any sweets to their counterparts along the IB.

A senior BSF commander at its headquarters in Delhi said that the force did not "offer" Eid sweets along the IB to Rangers as a mark of protest against the ongoing spate of ceasefire violations along this frontier and also the Line of Control (LoC) which have claimed few lives and injured many in the last few days.

In the wake of repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistani Rangers, India has warned Pakistan of "effective and forceful" response to unprovoked firing and cross-border terrorism.