Pak Rangers refused sweets due to pressure from Army, says expert

Security expert Praful Bakshi on Saturday said the Pakistan Rangers refused to exchange the traditional offering of sweets on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr as they were under pressure from the country's army.

"The reason why Pakistan Rangers did not accept sweets is because they are under pressure from the Pakistan Army. Let me be very clear on this, not the Pakistan Government but the Pakistan Army. The people of Pakistan want what the Pakistan Government had discussed with our Prime Minister about closeness and rapprochement, but the Pakistan Army doesn't want that," Bakshi told ANI here.

"Because if the Pakistan Army begins to want the same, then their own importance will start reducing and they don't want that. If this closeness happens, they will no longer remain in power. They know they have other benefits if they remain in power, so this is the reason they denied the exchange of sweets," he added.

Amid escalating hostilities between India and Pakistan over ceasefire violations in the last few days, the two neighbours skipped their traditional exchange of sweets on Eid-ul-Fitr across the Wagah-Attari border.

The BSF and the Pakistan Rangers 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.