Pak yet to respond to India's proposal to host BSF and Pak Rangers meet

Another example of what appears to be Pakistan unilaterally snapping functional level contacts, the neighbouring country is yet to respond to India’s proposal on hosting the biannual meeting between the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers, government sources said on Tuesday (October 15).

The biannual meeting, which has taken place regularly despite ups and downs in bilateral ties, is scheduled to be held this month with director generals of both the border guarding forces holding talks.

“This time the Indian side has proposed to hold the meeting in October, but the Pakistan Rangers has so far not confirmed its intention to participate in the meeting,” said a source.

Another source called it as yet another instance of unilateral measures by Pakistan to stop functional level contacts.

Pakistan’s trials to get international support against India for its decision to withdraw Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and bifurcate the state into two union territories have largely been unsuccessful.

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After India’s decision for the abrogation of the valley’s special status on August 5, the neighbour downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled Indian High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria from the country.

India after rejecting Pakistan’s reaction, categorically told the international community that its move on Kashmir is an internal matter. India maintains Kashmir as a bilateral issue and no third party has any role in it.

In the last couple of months, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has stepped up his attack on India and has been regularly referring to India and Pakistan’s status as nuclear powers.

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers guard the international border between the two countries.

The two forces have been holding meetings at the level of director generals of the two forces as well as between sector commanders to maintain peace along the frontier.

(With inputs from agencies)