India halts border goose-stepping

Published November 9, 2006

WAGAH, Nov 8: Indian troops guarding the country's only land transit point to Pakistan have halted an aggressive military ceremony ahead of a resumption of talks next week, officials said on Wednesday.

When troops from the two countries shut the Wagah border post every sunset, they usually do so with an elaborate ceremony involving a furious goose-step and the slamming of gates.

The ceremony draws thousands of spectators every day, and even triggered an exchange of gunfire almost a decade ago.

But India's Border Security Force (BSF) said it was toning down its ‘body language’.

“Soldiers have been told to refrain from high-rise stomping of feet,” the BSF’s Wagah Commander Pradeep Katyal said.—AFP

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