India, Pakistan Summon Each Others' Diplomats After BSF Shoots Dead Two Pakistanis
New Delhi: India and Pakistan summoned each others' charges d'affaires on Saturday (October 3), a day after Border Security Force (BSF) personnel in Punjab shot dead two Pakistani youths whom New Delhi says posed a security threat.
Pakistan on Saturday afternoon said it summoned India's charge d'affaires in Islamabad Satyanjal Pandey to lodge a strong protest against what it said was the BSF's use of “unprovoked lethal force against unarmed civilians”. “Such use of force was wholly unjustified and grossly disproportionate”, the Pakistani foreign ministry said, denying that the two deceased were ‘infiltrators’.
Indian authorities must investigate the incident, take action against those responsible and communicate their findings to the Pakistani government, Islamabad said. It urged India to “ensure respect for fundamental human rights and international law, strictly observe relevant bilateral arrangements and established border procedures, exercise maximum restraint in dealing with such situations and take effective measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents”.
Subsequently the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi said it summoned Pakistani charge d'affaires Saad Warraich to register its strong protest over the “continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration from Pakistan”.
It rejected Pakistan's account of what happened, saying that three individuals “infiltrated” into Indian territory on Friday and continued to move towards the border fence despite the BSF's warnings. Security personnel were “compelled to engage them for posing an imminent security threat”, said the MEA.
It said the incident, which took place in the BSF's Ferozepur sector, “highlights a clear pattern of repeated cross-border movement by armed narcotics syndicates operating from Pakistan” and urged Islamabad to investigate such incidents in addition to the alleged complicity of Pakistani border guards.
Pakistani authorities must “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”.
According to The Hindu, the deceased were 20-year-old Azmat Shah and 22-year-old Moshin Habibullah.
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