India, Pakistan border troops exchange sweets on Independence Day

Jammu/Amritsar, Aug 15: The Border Security Force and Pakistan Rangers exchanged greetings and sweets on Monday along the international border in Jammu region and Attari-Wagah in Punjab on the occasion of India's 76th Independence Day, BSF officials said.

BSF personnel offered sweets to Pakistan Rangers who also reciprocated. The exchange took place at various border outposts in Samba, Kathua, R S Pura and Akhnoor in a very cordial atmosphere, officials said in Jammu.

The BSF has always been at the forefront in creating a peaceful and congenial atmosphere on the border while dominating the border effectively. Such gestures help build a peaceful atmosphere and cordial relationships on the frontier between both border guarding forces, they said.

In Poonch and Rajouri districts, Indian and Pakistani armies exchanged greetings and sweets.

The BSF personnel also exchanged sweets with the Pakistan Rangers at the Attari-Wagah border, around 35 kms from Amritsar, and with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) along the international border in Assam's Dhubri.

BSF personnel of its 31st and 19th battalions exchanged greetings with their Bangladesh counterparts along Sonahat and Tistapara border outposts, a BSF official said.

There is a tradition of the border forces exchanging gifts and sweets on special occasions. Dhubri in western Assam shares a 61-km-long border, both riverine and land, with Bangladesh.