In tit-for-tat move, India, Pakistan summon top envoys - The Indian Express
A day after the Border Security Force (BSF) killed two suspected Pakistani intruders along the International Border in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, India and Pakistan summoned each other’s Charge d’Affaires and lodged “strong protests” on Saturday.
While India protested over the “continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration”, Pakistan claimed the two who were killed were “unarmed civilians”.
The Pakistani diplomat in Delhi was summoned hours after Islamabad summoned the Indian official there.
“The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) today summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of the Pakistan High Commission to lodge India’s strong protest over the continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration from Pakistan. India also categorically rejected the baseless and motivated allegations regarding an incident in the Ferozepur sector, Punjab, along the International Border on October 2, 2026,” the MEA said in a statement.
It said the “Pakistani side was informed that three individuals infiltrated into Indian territory and despite multiple warnings by BSF to return to Pakistan, continued to move towards the border fence. The BSF was compelled to engage them for posing an imminent security threat.”
The MEA said the incident highlights a “clear pattern of repeated cross-border movement by armed narcotics syndicates operating from Pakistan. Government of Pakistan was urged to investigate these cross-border infiltration, drug smuggling activities and the complicity of Pakistan border guarding forces therein, and to take appropriate remedial measures.”
It said Pakistan was further urged to “ensure respect for the sanctity of the International Border, strictly observe relevant bilateral arrangements, mandate its forces to exercise effective control to prevent unauthorised movement from its side, and take definitive measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents”.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Foreign Office said the Indian Charge d’Affaires was summoned to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs to “lodge Pakistan’s strong protest over the killing”.
“The BSF personnel resorted to unprovoked lethal force against unarmed civilians. Such use of force was wholly unjustified and grossly disproportionate, resulting in the tragic loss of two precious lives,” it said.
It further said the incident amounted to a serious violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to life, and raised serious concerns regarding the protection of civilian life under international law.
It called upon the Indian side “to conduct an immediate, transparent and credible investigation” into the incident, take appropriate disciplinary and legal action against those found responsible, and formally communicate the findings and action taken to the Pakistani government.
Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 27 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting and writing explainers and analysis on foreign affairs for about 19 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism ‘2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He won the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award, 2023, for the second time for his reporting of the Oct 7 attacks on Israel and the war in Gaza. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury’s special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban’s capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
