NEW DELHI - Despite the bittern ties, Pakistan has sent Diwali sweets to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit and his wife also sent Diwali sweets to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Sources said Abdul Basit sent the boxes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. It was an initiative taken totally at the high commission level, they added.
Significantly, Indian forces did not offer sweets to their Pakistani counterparts on Diwali in view of the ceasefire tension along the border.
The Border Security Force (BSF) in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir did not exchange sweets and greetings, a goodwill gesture carried out on major occasions, especially festivals like Diwali and Eid.
“In the light of the present scenario with Pakistan, this time India has decided not to offer sweets to Pakistan on Diwali,” Jalandhar-based BSF IG, Punjab Frontier, Ashok Kumar, told PTI over phone.
There were repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan along LoC as well as International border in Jammu and Kashmir recently, he said and added offering sweets to Pakistani counterparts was “totally out of question”.
“This Diwali we did not exchange sweets with the Pakistani side following the heightened tension along the International border," a senior BSF officer said in Jammu.
The army also did not hold any function along the Line of Control and no sweets were exchanged with the Pakistani troops.