Enhanced CBM after fresh ceasefire
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 21: Security forces of India and Pakistan exchanged sweets along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha today.
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Officials of the Indian and Pakistani armies exchanged sweets at Poonch-Rawalakot and Mendhar-Hotspring crossing points along the LoC in Poonch district, sources said.
They said the ceremony is seen as an enhanced Confidence-Building Measure (CBM) in the backdrop of a ceasefire between both countries.
Greetings and best wishes for peace and harmony were conveyed to the Pakistani army representatives. The gesture was appreciated by both the armies and is expected to further promote goodwill and mutual trust, they said.
On the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, troops of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers also greeted each other and exchanged sweets in Hiranagar, Samba, Ramgarh, R S Pura, Arnia, Pargwal sectors of the International Border of Jammu, officials said.
This is the first exchange of sweets between the two border guarding forces after the Pulwama incident. There was no cross-border shelling for long and farmers on both sides of the border have been able to carry out their farming activities peacefully, they said.
Forty CRPF personnel were martyred when their bus in a long convoy of over 70 vehicles plying from Jammu to Srinagar was bombed on February 14, 2019, by a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber. Soon after, India carried out an aerial strike on a terrorist training camp of the terror group in Pakistan’s Balakot.
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, Indian and Pakistani armies also exchanged sweets at two places along the LoC in Kashmir on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha.
On the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha and as a gesture for promoting peace, harmony and compassion in the true spirit of the festival, India and Pakistan armies held a flag meeting and exchanged sweets at Kaman Aman Setu, Uri and Tithwal Crossing on Kishanganga River in Tangdhar, Kupwara, a Defence spokesperson said here.
A BSF spokesperson in New Delhi said that “exchange of sweets took place between BSF and Pakistan Rangers on the occasion of Eid 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.
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