India and Pakistan summon each other's envoys after BSF kills two men on the Punjab border

India and Pakistan summoned each other's charge d'affaires on Saturday, a day after the Border Security Force killed two men on the international border in Punjab. The two governments do not agree on the place-name, the men's status, or what the third man in the group did.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it called in India's charge d'affaires to protest the killing of two civilians in the Bedian sector on Friday. It said BSF personnel used unprovoked lethal force against unarmed civilians, that the force was unjustified and disproportionate, and that another person was wounded. Islamabad rejected any description of the dead as infiltrators. It asked India for an immediate investigation, disciplinary and legal action against those found responsible, and a formal report of what was done.

India's Ministry of External Affairs summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires later on Saturday. The MEA said the protest was over continued facilitation of illegal cross-border infiltration, and that India rejected Pakistan's allegations about an incident in the Ferozepur sector on 2 October as baseless. Indian officials had earlier said the BSF shot two suspected Pakistani intruders in Tarn Taran district around noon. Tarn Taran's deputy superintendent of police, Atul Soni, said three intruders were moving toward the Indian side and one later returned to Pakistan. The other two kept coming after warnings to turn back. A BSF sentry told police the two were provoking the troops and saying they wanted to enter Indian territory. The BSF then opened fire.

Bedian, Ferozepur sector and Tarn Taran are not three versions of a rumour. They are neighbouring names for the same stretch of international border south of Amritsar, where the line runs through fields and the villages on either side are close enough that a wrong turn is a crossing. The argument is about intent. Pakistan says the men were unarmed civilians. India says they were warned, kept coming, and spoke of entering. Soni's account puts the third man back on the Pakistani side. Pakistan's account puts a wounded person on its side of the story. Neither side has published the names of the dead.

The sequence of the diplomacy is clear even where the facts of the shooting are not. Pakistan summoned the Indian diplomat first. India summoned the Pakistani diplomat after that, and used the meeting to reject the civilian claim and to restate the infiltration charge. No joint investigation has been announced. No hotline transcript has been released. The BSF has not, in the statements carried so far, given a count of rounds fired or said whether the men were armed.

For the border force, a daylight shooting on the international border is a different event from a night encounter on the Line of Control. The international border is a recognised line. A killing on it goes straight to the foreign ministries, which is what happened within a day. The open question is identification. If Pakistan names the two men and shows they lived in a border village, the civilian claim becomes testable. If India shows they were briefed or carrying kit for a crossing, the infiltration claim becomes testable. Until one of those files is public, Saturday's record is the pair of summonses and two incompatible sentences: unarmed civilians, or men who would not turn back.