India, Pakistan summon top diplomats over border incident

India and Pakistan summoned each other’s top diplomats yesterday (3 October) over a border incident in which two unarmed Pakistani civilians were allegedly killed, with New Delhi rejecting Islamabad’s allegations and accusing Pakistani forces of facilitating cross-border infiltration, Reuters reported.

India summoned the chargé d’affaires of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi and lodged a strong protest over what it described as the continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration from Pakistan.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also rejected as “baseless and motivated” Pakistan’s allegations over the 2 October incident in the Ferozepur sector of Punjab along the international border.

The MEA said in a statement that the Pakistani diplomat was informed that three individuals had entered Indian territory and continued moving towards the border fence despite repeated warnings from the Border Security Force (BSF) to return to Pakistan.

The force subsequently engaged them after they were assessed to pose an imminent security threat, it added.

The statement said the incident reflected a “clear pattern of repeated cross-border movement by armed narcotics syndicates operating from Pakistan”.

India urged Pakistan to investigate cross-border infiltration and drug-smuggling activities, including the alleged complicity of Pakistani border forces, and take appropriate corrective measures.

It also called on Islamabad to respect the sanctity of the international border, strictly observe bilateral arrangements, ensure its forces prevented unauthorised movement from its side and take measures to prevent similar incidents.

Pakistan rejects India’s account

Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan summoned India’s chargé d’affaires to lodge a strong protest over the deaths of two Pakistani civilians in the Bedian sector along the international border.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said personnel from India’s BSF had used “unprovoked lethal force” against two unarmed Pakistani civilians on Friday.

“Pakistan categorically rejects any attempt to mischaracterise the deceased as ‘infiltrators’,” the ministry said in a statement.

Islamabad called for an “immediate, transparent and credible investigation” into the incident, rejecting India’s account that those killed had crossed illegally into its territory, Reuters reported.

Relations between the two nuclear-armed rivals have been strained since a four-day war in 2025, the worst in decades, followed by a militant attack on tourists in Indian Kashmir that killed 26 people.

New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing the attack, which Islamabad denied.