The CdA in Islamabad, Satyanjal Pandey, and Pakistan’s CdA in Delhi, Saad Warraich, are the highest ranking diplomats in the two capitals since both sides downgraded missions and recalled High Commissioners in 2019. File.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
India and Pakistan summoned each other’s diplomats and traded charges on Saturday (October 3, 2026) over the killing of two Pakistani men who the Border Security Force said had attempted to infiltrate through the International Border along Punjab’s Tarn Taran district.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) summoned the Indian Charge d’Affaires (CdA) in Islamabad on Saturday (October 3, 2026) to protest the killings of men they said were “unarmed civilians”. Late in the evenjng, India also summoned the Pakistan Charge d’Affaires to reject the Pakistani statement and protested “the continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration from Pakistan”.
After completing the post-mortem procedures, a senior BSF official told The Hindu that they handed over the bodies of the two men to Pakistani Rangers on Saturday. Officials did not confirm whether any weapons had been found on the men, who had been accused of trying to infiltrate through the border fencing on Friday morning at around 11.30 a.m.
While the BSF said that they had shot at the men, including one who ran away when they attempted to cross over at the International Border along Tarn Taran district, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry accused the Indian security forces of using “unprovoked lethal force against unarmed civilians”. The men were both in their twenties and, according to officials quoted in Pakistani media, belonged to the border village of Ladhar on the Pakistani side of Punjab. They were identified as Azmat Shah, 20, and Mohsin Habibullah, 22.
“Such use of force was wholly unjustified and grossly disproportionate, resulting in the tragic loss of two precious lives. Pakistan categorically rejects any attempt to mischaracterize the deceased as “infiltrators”,” the Pakistan MoFA said in a statement.
The CdA in Islamabad, Satyanjal Pandey, and Pakistan’s CdA in Delhi, Saad Warraich, are the highest ranking diplomats in the two capitals since both sides downgraded missions and recalled High Commissioners in 2019.
On Friday (October 2, 2026), the BSF said that they had seen three men proceeding towards the border through paddy fields on the Pakistani side, and didn’t stop despite several warnings. As a result, they said BSF personnel shot at them, killing two. In its statement, the Pakistani MoFA said it had told the Indian diplomat 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 Government of Pakistan”.
However, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the incident highlighted “a clear pattern of repeated cross-border movement by armed narcotics syndicates operating from Pakistan”, adding that India had asked Pakistan to “investigate these cross-border infiltration, drug smuggling activities and the complicity of Pakistan Border Guarding forces therein, and to take appropriate remedial measures”.
Published – October 03, 2026 08:16 pm IST
