Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday night said he had received a message from Narendra Modi wishing his country on its National Day.

Imran’s tweet came hours after India announced that it had decided to skip the Pakistan Day celebrations in New Delhi and Islamabad.

“Received msg from PM Modi: ‘I extend my greetings & best wishes to the people of Pakistan on the National Day of Pakistan. It is time that ppl of Sub-continent work together for a democratic, peaceful, progressive & prosperous region, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence’,” he wrote.

Till late in the night, India had not confirmed the Prime Minister’s purported message. Neither had Modi tweeted the greetings, as he usually does.

Government sources claimed it was an unsigned letter that gets sent out as a routine on such occasions.

That India would not join the celebrations at any level was announced by external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in the afternoon. He said the boycott was in protest against the Pakistan high commission’s decision to invite the Hurriyat.

Several guests who attended the reception in Delhi in the evening told PTI they were stopped by police and allowed to proceed only after giving their contact details. PTI quoted an unnamed Delhi police officer as saying this was necessary because of the boycott. “If only the spooks & other interested players stopping people from attending the Pak National Day event had also stopped PM Modi from sending his greeting to PM Khan we wouldn’t look so damn confused about our relations with Pakistan,” National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said.

Earlier in the day, Modi had targeted the Congress, pouncing on Sam Pitroda’s comments on the air strikes to tweet: “The most trusted advisor and guide of the Congress president has kick-started the Pakistan National Day celebrations….”